Lycan
by Miss. RoseGold
Summary: AU, 19th century Townsville. When the Professor's brother is murdered, the esteemed Utonium family returns to Townsville, only to discover that the town is terrorized by unseen horrors. Nothing is as it seems, and to figure out the dark web of secrets that the town is hiding, the girls are going to have to break the one rule the town has: "Stay out of the woods."
1. Murder in the Woods

**Lycan**

 **Summary:** AU After the horrific murder of the Professors brother, the esteemed Utonium family returns to 18th century Townsville to discover the town has not changed in their absence: The people have. Nothing is as it seems, and events begins to spiral out of control when three deadly men are brought into the chaos and back into the girl's lives, hell-bent on preventing them from leaving again.

 **Authors Note:** _This will be my attempt at writing a Lycanthropy Powerpuff Girls story. I know many already exist and do hold rather interesting reputations, so I will try my hand at writing a decent one._

 _The themes in this story are inspired from many of my favorite films such as Van Helsing, The Wolfman, Red Riding Hood etc that being said, I don't own any of them and are using the themes for entertainment purposes ONLY._

 _Depending on how well the first chapter is received, I will post the second one, as I already have half of it fleshed out. The rating may change depending on how deep I get into this, as it is going to be much darker then my other stories, and will be probably become quite graphic. If gore bothers you, I don't recommend reading._

 _Reviews are always welcome, as I love hearing from you and are open to any type of constructive comments you may have for me. Also, feel free to PM myself with any questions that you have. I love talking to people I meet on here, and would be happy to take your questions as it shows you are interested in my work._

 _That being said: The Powerpuff Girls do not belong to me, nor do any themes relating to the films Van Helsing, The Wolfman or Red Riding Hood._

 _And yes, before I forget, the girls and the boys have human features and appendages, and are roughly in their late teens/early twenties in this AU. Also the girls also do not have their powers in this one._

 _Let's begin._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Murder in the Woods.**

 _Even a man who is pure in heart_

 _And says his prayers at night,_

 _May become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms,_

 _And the autumn moon is bright._

A tall man with a thick red beard, and thick, bushy eyebrows, wearing a trench coat walked briskly though the dense, fog infested forest.

In one hand, he carried a heavy lantern; his only means of visibility in the dark wood aside from the light of the bright full moon high in the dark sky above him, and in the other, he carried a shot gun.

He muttered angrily, cursing himself for being out in the forest this late at night and under these conditions.

"I know you're there!" He shouted into the trees, "Show yourself!"

Rustling leaves was the response that he received.

That struck the man as odd. He had been in the forest for what he assumed to be close to an hour, and the only sounds he had heard was the wind groaning through the bare tree branches high above him, or the occasional rustling of leaves on the ground.

It was odd, as the woods should have been alive with the sounds of other animals. But the underbrush was deadly silent.

 _Too silent._

The tall man was not out for an evening stroll, he was searching for something, some _one_ possibly. He had seen a large figure moving amongst the tree-line at the back of his property and had gone to investigate.

Normally, he would not have gone out into the woods this late at night, however recently the body farmer Lumpkins had been found out in the woods by his land.

The body, or what was left of it, had been completely mulled. What was worse: the murderer was still on the loose.

When the red-bearded man had caught a glimpse of the figure stalking outside his house, he had had the sinking suspicion that it was the same person who had torn up Lumpkins.

After all, who in their right mind would be wandering the dark forest in the middle of a bitter November night?

Him apparently.

And so, the man, intent on bringing the viscous murderer to justice, had grabbed his coat, lantern and shotgun, and had taken off into the foggy woods without a second thought.

Which was where he found himself now: cold, and with limited visibility, shouting angrily into the tree-line.

Eugene Utonium was not in the mood for this nonsense.

He sighed, tiredly rubbing a hand across his face. He was drained, and wanting to head back to his house where his warm bed and wife-to-be awaited him. But at the same time, he was fairly certain that he was on the trail of a murderer. One that needed to be brought to justice.

Eugene paused, glancing around the area and froze. He recognized the land that he was on. It belonged to the richest and most powerful family in Townsville, and they did not take kindly to trespassers.

He groaned inwardly. He needed to leave, but at the same time he was intrigued. Why had the trail led him straight to the Jojo manor? His residence was on the other side of Townsville while the Jojo manor was spread out across the moors outside of it, making the residence very secluded from the rest of the town.

Eugene was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a branch snapping.

He lifted the lantern quickly, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of something _big_ moving just outside his line of vision.

Hosting his shotgun, he began moving backward slowly, fully alert, keeping his eyes on the trees.

"I can hear you!" Eugene shouted, "Come out NOW with your hands up!"

A low rumbling growl filled the air and Eugene's eyes slowly widened as he saw a massive figure begin to slowly materialize out of the surrounding trees in front of him, blood red eyes glowing sinisterly, fixated on his tall form.

 _That's not a man Eugene._ Eugene thought to himself in a panic.

 _But that's not what I'd call a wolf either._

Panicking the red bearded man lifted the shot gun and fired at it.

BLAM, BLAM!

The _thing_ in front of him didn't even flinch, the red foreboding eyes narrowing as its lips pulled back into a feral snarl, exposing large, sharp white teeth at him.

Eugene gasped in terror, and lifted his gun up, ready to give the thing a true taste of what buckshot felt like… only to feel a searing pain in his abdomen.

Casting his eyes downward, the man almost shirked in terror as he saw a deep slash that was _not_ there a minute prior appear on his chest, blood beginning to spill down his shirt.

He glanced back up; the _thing_ was still in its original position, only it was now slowly starting to move on all fours toward him for the kill. Eugene's mind reeled trying to make sense of it. There was no way it could have moved that fast, unless it hadn't. Unless… unless….

Eugene froze. His normally brave demeanor vanishing as the truth washed over him like a bucket of cold water.

 _Unless there is more than one._

With that thought still fresh in his mind, he dropped the heavy lantern, hearing it shatter on the ground, and killing the little light that he had. Using the hand that was holding it to cover the gash on his chest, he quickly spin on his heal, and made a run for it.

The monster behind him let out a guttural howl, and the chase began.

Bursting out of the forest and into a clearing, which Eugene briefly recognized as Jojo property, he ran as fast as he could, the pain in his chest causing him great discomfort.

"HELP, HELP" He screamed frantically, hoping that someone, anyone would hear him. He could hear the thundering of paws behind him, and didn't have to look back to know that the beast was almost on top of him.

Eugene was fast approaching a small building, and he briefly recognized it to be the crypt that the deceased Jojo family members were stored in.

Making his way up the grand stone steps of the crypt, Eugene frantically tried opening the heavy wooden doors to no avail. The pain in his chest became too much for him to bear, and he had lost far too much blood to keep running. At that, his legs gave out, and he slowly slid down the doors, leaving a blood trail behind him. The red bearded-man heard deep animalistic pants above him, causing him to look up slowly, shaking with both fear and adrenalin.

Looking up he locked eyes with the beast, black eyes staring into blood red.

The beast let out another howl that seemed to shake the earth, and the last thing that Eugene Utonium saw was a ring of large, white teeth coming straight for his face.

* * *

 **Citysville 1829**

Esteemed Professor John Utonium was just returning home from a long day's work.

His wife, his three daughters and he lived in a large house close to the heart of Citysville. He was a well know scientist with a flawless reputation, that had created many inventions that had enhanced Citysville greatly, and as a result, drastically improved the lives of many dwelling in the city.

He was climbing the steps to his home, ready to collapse into his large armchair by the fireplace, kick his feet up and smoke his pipe, when the front door opened suddenly to revel his wife.

Ms. Sara Utonium nee Bellum was a tall, voluptuous woman with a mass of beautiful curly red hair and lovely tan skin, who dressed mostly in red. She was the proud mother of his triplet daughters Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles, and was hardly ever seen without a small, content smile on her face.

As the love-struck man looked up at his lovely wife he noticed that today she was without that small smile that he looked forward to seeing whenever he got home.

"Sara?" John questioned, "What's the matter dearest?"

Sara looked at her husband, one foot still paused on the step that he had been about to climb moments before, and quietly sighed.

"Hello John," her soft sensual voice murmured, "I hope work wasn't too hard on you today, we have a guest. She's come a long way to see you specifically." She told him.

"A guest? I wasn't expecting any today." The professor informed his wife. "Who is she, where has she come from?"

"I think that you better come in and see for yourself. She has some… difficult news to tell you." Sara responded quietly.

The professor frowned, nodding before climbing the steps and entering the house, his wife shutting the door behind them.

Upon entering the living room he stopped dead, as he looked into the eyes of someone that he hadn't seen in years.

"Jennifer Keane?" He asked disbelieving what he was seeing.

The aforementioned woman gave the professor a small smile. "Hello John, it's been a while hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has been. I haven't seen you since Sara, the girls and myself left Townsville roughly fourteen years ago." John nodded. At the mention of the family's departure, Jennifer's smile dropped and a sad frown came onto her face.

"Look John, I wish I could say that I'm here simply for pleasantries, however that it not the nature of my visit." The short, black haired woman murmured.

"Then enlighten us." The professor gave the woman an encouraging smile, "It must be important if you came all the way from Townsville to see me." After a moments pause he continued. "Oh that reminds me; I heard that you are getting married to my brother Eugene! How is he, do you mind me asking? I haven't seen him since… Well, since we left Townsville." He trailed off slightly at the end.

Jenifer's frown deepened, and a miserable look came into her sky blue eyes. "That's actually what, or should I say, who, I came here to talk to you about." She paused, seeming almost uncertain of what to say next.

Finally she moved forward to grasp the professor's hand in her smaller one. "John." She murmured, "Eugene's gone missing."

The tall dark haired man froze, hand growing limp and cold in Jennifer's grasp.

"What do you mean "gone missing"?" he asked sharply. "Do you mean on one of his exploration trips? We used to call him "The Wild Man" back in the day, but I thought he had long stopped going on them after he had that encounter with that grizzly years ago."

Jennifer shook her head rapidly. "No, he stopped after that. He just suddenly got up and left the house late one evening, saying that he "saw something outside the house" and that he'd be "right back." Her eyes watered.

"John, that was _four days ago_. He's _gone_. The entire town is looking for him, but he hasn't turned up yet, and as much as I don't want to, I'm starting to think the worst."

"What do you think happened to him?" Sara spoke up, looking at Jennifer with deep green eyes.

Jennifer shuddered. "Have… Have either of you heard about the strange things happening around Townsville?" She asked.

Two blank faces answered her question. The raven haired woman shuddered again before telling them.

"It's been happening for a while now, but recently, it's been starting to get bad, _really_ bad." She informed them. "People around town have started to disappear, only to wind up _dead_ a few days later. The bodies are completely destroyed, and sometimes it takes _days_ to identify the corpse."

She paused for effect, watching the married couples faces slowly turn white. "We have no idea what or who is doing it. We could very well have a killer on the loose, it also could be an animal, as all of the bodies were found in the woods and some were mangled pretty badly…" The shorter woman let out a shuddering sigh.

"I just… I don't want to think about what has happened to him. But whatever is behind the murders was strong enough to overpower farmer Lumpkins…"

"Wait." John interrupted, "Farmer _Fuzzy_ Lumpkins, the same shotgun wielding lunatic, with the strength of 5 people who used to scream at my daughters for being "on his property"?" He asked in in disbelief.

Jennifer nodded. "The very one. He was found in the forest surrounding his property last week. His body was apparently one of the ones that were mangled the worst. It was probably because he tried to fight back…" She swallowed.

"I don't know what happened to Eugene, that's why I'm here. I'm _begging_ you John, come back to Townsville and help me find him! You're his brother, if anyone will be able to find him, it's you." She looked toward him pleading.

John stood rigidly, saying nothing. It was only when Sara placed her warm hand on his shoulder, did he seem to come back to life. He looked down at the small woman in front of him and began to speak lowly to her.

"There was a reason that I took Sara and the girls away from that place." He began. "I loved Townsville, we all grew up there, and it was my home for years, and my daughters too. But… events like the one you are describing have happened _long_ before this one. Things began to escalate rapidly when my daughters were five years old, and finally… we couldn't take it anymore, and left."

He took a deep breath. "That place is cursed. I don't know how else to describe it. It's like a sickness hangs over it. I will not place my daughters nor my wife in that kind of position again."

Jennifer's mouth dropped open at what he was saying, and Sara stiffened behind him. "But… But he is your brother!" She gaped.

The tall man looked down to the carpeted floor. "I know." He said quietly. "But I can't go back there. Not again. Being there… it changes you. Too many things have happened there, and I just can't do it again. Not alone anyways." Then he quickly added, "Besides, I can't just leave my family and work. Too many people depend on me, I'm needed here!"

"You won't be alone. "Sara murmured, "The girls and I will come with you. Did you really think that you would go alone?" She questioned, looking at her husband.

"NO!" John almost shouted, panicked. "I won't put my children into harm's way if I can avoid it. Going back there would be the worst thing that I as a father could do to them!"

"John." Sara said sternly, "Your baby brother, the only family aside from us that you have left, is missing. Jennifer did not come all this way to ask for your help, only to be rejected by you. We ARE going back to Townsville, if only for a short time, to help find Eugene, then we'll come back to Citysville, and we don't ever have to go back again"

"But!" The professor began to protest, "No." Sara shook her head, red curls gently bouncing as she did so, "This is something that you need to do. You know that." Sighing heavily, John took his wife's hands in his own. "I know," he said, "your right, as usual my dear, I'm just… worried about the girls."

"I know, and you're a good father, but don't you think that it would be nice for the girls to see their childhood town and friends again?" Sara questioned.

"I suppose so," John agreed reluctantly, "I just didn't want to go back under… these circumstances." "Obviously not. But we have family there too remember…" Sara trailed off.

"Yes, your father, the mayor, I miss that old fellow, he still likes pickles doesn't he?" John chuckled gently, causing a small smile to appear on his tall wife's face. "Yes he does. I miss him dearly, and I'd like the opportunity to see him again." She responded. "He's very old now John, I don't know how many chances I have left to see him."

John bit back a sigh. He did not want to go back to Townsville. But he knew that there was no point in arguing with his wife. He didn't like the thought of her and his daughter's accompanying him on the trip, but he knew that he couldn't just leave them in Citysville. His precious children were at the marrying age, and he was now starting to have to beat off flocks of suitors. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he left his daughters alone in the city without him there.

Finally after a long pause, and much internal debating, the professor turned his head to look at the other woman in the room, who was wringing her hands in distress.

"When is the next train to Townsville?"

* * *

 **Authors note:** _Well things escalated quickly. There is already been a death, two in fact, and now the Utonium family is going back to the cursed town of Townsville. The professor is very uneasy about the town even before his brother went "missing" and it will be explained why this is in future chapters. The girls will also make their first appearance in the second chapter. I wanted to include them in this one, however a lot had already happened, and truthfully, the second one will not be as thrilling as the first. This chapter was inspired by the 2010 version of the Wolfman, if you were able to pick that up, I give you props. I will leave you on this note, and will hopefully have the second chapter up in a few days._

 _Stay amazing lovelies_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	2. Somethings never change

**Lycan**

 **Chapter 2: Somethings never change**

Vibrant rose coloured eyes watched the gray smoke stacks of Citysville spewing dark chemicals into the overcast sky; disappear into the far off horizon.

A young woman, with extremely long auburn hair sighed to herself as she glanced around the well decorated train compartment that she shared with her two younger sisters.

Blossom Utonium was the eldest of John Utonium's three triplet daughters; however, she and her sisters looked nothing alike.

Blossom had rose coloured eyes, a genetic condition that she had inherited from her father's side of the family, and long, straight auburn hair like her mother Sara, that she usually kept tied up and out of her face. The young woman had a slim figure, and had fair porcelain skin as she did not spend a great deal of time outside, instead preferring to read and study countless books a day indoors. The girl had inherited her mother's beauty, but she had her father smarts, often accompanying him to his lab to help him as his assistant. She was normally found wearing light pinks in order to compliant her interesting eye shade.

Blossom's eyes drifted over to her middle sister sitting across form her, Buttercup Utonium, who was staring out the window with half-lidded eyes, head propped up on her arm, evidently bored.

Buttercup was the darkest of her sisters. She had inhered their father's dark raven hair and mother's bright green eyes, a stunning combination. She had let her thick, obsidian locks grow out as they had gotten older, and were now down to her mid back, looking just as wild as she was, and had a natural wave to them. She was the tallest of her sisters, and had lightly tanned skin like her mother that complimented her hair and eyes. She was the exact opposite of her elder sister. While Blossom spent most of her time indoors studying, Buttercup was typically found outside, often participating in a various number of sports, and had obtained a lean figure from the rigorous activities. She was typically the most outspoken of her sisters and had a hidden temper; however she had a compassionate soul. Like Blossom, she often wore green to bring out her eyes.

Finally, Blossom's eyes found themselves on the youngest triplet. Her baby sister, Bubbles, who was currently asleep, head resting on Buttercup's shoulder and shifting whenever the train moved over a rough patch of track.

Bubbles was the odd one of the family. Unlike her two older sisters, who had taken some of their looks from their parents, Bubbles did not, instead inheriting her lighter features from her grandparents on her mother's side. Bubbles had beautiful blonde hair and bright baby blue eyes, a combination that had earned her many male admirers in Citysville. She would usually keep her long blonde hair back in a fishtail braid and away from her face like her eldest sister. She was a slender girl who got along well with everyone, hardly a mean bone in her body, and had a deep love of animals. Much like her elder sisters, she could be found wearing many different shades of blues, as a way to bring out her bright eyes.

Blossom shook her head slightly and a tiny sigh escaped her. She, like her sisters, was excited about going back to their childhood town. However the nature of their visitation there was far from pleasant. She remembered their father coming into their room late last night to tell them that their favourite uncle had gone missing, and that they were heading out to catch a train to Townsville first think in the morning to go and look for him.

Blossom hoped that whatever had happened to her uncle, that he was safe. Where ever he was.

"Something wrong?" A feminine rasp cut across her thoughts.

Blossom looked up startled to hear her raven haired sister speak. Buttercup wasn't looking at her directly, but Blossom could tell that the tall beauty was shooting her a look out of the corner of her lime coloured eyes.

"It's just odd, about what happened to Uncle Eugene." Blossom responded, shifting to sit up straight in her cushioned chair. "and I guess going back to Townsville after all this time. Do you think that much has changed since we were last there?"

"Honestly? No." Buttercup told her. "It's no Citysville. From what dad told us last night, the place barely has any form of electricity, and the main form of travel is still by horse. He mentioned that it's still mostly a farming place, so I highly doubt that much has changed since we were last there."

Blossom nodded. "Your right, I remember that the town was completely surrounded by mountains and rolling hills. It was very quiet there, unlike Citysville. I miss the peace, what about you?"

"I miss the space." Buttercup admitted, draping a long arm over Bubbles to keep her head from moving about. "All the fields we used to do cartwheels in, you remember?"

Blossom nodded smiling. "I do, those were fun times."

Buttercup frowned suddenly, sitting up a little, pulling a still sleeping Bubbles up with her. "Do you remember why we left so suddenly? We were five at the time, I remember that, and I remember dad being afraid and insisting that we leave, but I can't remember the reason why anymore. Do you?" She asked her rose sister.

Blossom shook her head, long hair moving from side to side like a red waterfall. "No, I remember just as much as you do, father frantically rushing us to Citysville and never looking back. Something scared him badly, but I don't think he ever told us what it was."

A soft knock on the wooden door that separated the sisters from the train corridor caused both girls to turn their heads in the diction of the sound, and Bubbles to jolt awake, blinking tiredly, and attempting to wipe the sleep from her baby blue eyes.

"Was- what's going on?" she slurred, still half asleep. "Girls?" The voice of their father came from outside the door, "Girls, can I come in?" he asked.

"Come in!" Blossom called out. The wooden door slowly slid open to reveal their tired looking father. He looked as if he had gotten no sleep on the train, and had deep bags under his eyes. He also looks stiff, and on edge. All three triplets had noticed that he seemed to get progressively worse the closer they drew to Townsville.

Still, he smiled gently at his children. "Good afternoon girls, I hope that you all got some decent rest while on the train. Townsville is the next stop, so I'd advice getting all of your things together and be ready to go when the train stops at the station."

All three girls nodded in conformation. "Also, We'll be staying with your grandparents, the mayor and your grandmother-" Bubbles's squeal of joy broke him off, causing him and his other daughters to smile. "We'll be taking a carriage to go meet them at the manor; it should already be at the train station when we arrive…" He paused, looking over his shoulder and into the train corridor.

"Your mother, Miss. Keane and I will probably head out later to join the search for your uncle, in the meantime you three will situate yourselves at your grandparents manor." The professor told them.

"Why can't we come and help you look for Uncle Eugene?" Buttercup questioned. The dark haired man frowned slightly at the question his middle daughter posed to him.

"Because… Because we will probably be out late with the rest of the search party, and the woods around these parts… have never been the safest at night." The professor admitted.

All three sets of eyes widened at the last part of the sentence. "Why is it not safe?" Blossom gently pressed.

But the professor only shook his head. "It doesn't matter; I'll tell you girls after we've found your uncle. Please get your luggage ready, and say goodbye to Miss. Keane before we leave the train station. She'll be going back to her home for the time being, you'll see her again before we leave."

He smiled gently at them again, "It was nice seeing her again wasn't it? I know it's been a long times since you girls have seen her, but she told me that she remembers you three fondly, you were some of her best students after all, even if it was just kindergarten." He chuckled.

"It was lovely seeing her again!" Bubbles chirped. "It was a nice surprise, coming home and finding her drinking tea with mama in the sitting room. I wish she came to see us under better conditions though." She muttered at the end, her sisters nodding their agreement.

The professor's smile turned solemn again as he nodded. "Agreed, now the train will approach Townsville in roughly ten or so minutes, get your belongings together, and I'll see you on the train platform."

And with that he stepped back out into the hallway and shut the sliding wooden door behind him.

* * *

 **Townsville 1829**

"Well. Somethings never change."

The professor muttered under his breath as he stared out the window. "Townsville is still the same as we left it."

It was true. After the Utonium family had gotten off the train and had bid Miss. Keane goodbye, they had gotten into their awaiting carriage and rode into the overcast village that was Townsville.

The roads were mostly dirt paths, with only the main roads paved in the small town, and the houses that lined the streets on either side had the appearances of large cottages. The family could see by glancing into the windows of the houses that the new power of electricity that Citysville ran on, had not yet reached Townsville and the townspeople still relayed heavily on candles and gas to light their homes.

All the while as they passed through the heart of the town Bubbles was excitedly rambling to the rest of her family.

"I can't _wait_ to see grandpa and grandma again! It's been years, I've missed them so much! Do you think that they've kept our rooms the same? I wonder if they took down that awful flower décor in the main bathroom, it was so ugly, the flowers didn't even look like roses-"

"Well don't tell that to your grandma." Sara laughed gently as she ran her fingers over her youngest daughters' long silky braid. "She loved that flower wallpaper, but it didn't look much like flowers, I'll give you that one." She admitted, as she smoothed out the wrinkles in her long red dress.

"Who cares what the inside of the house looks like?" Buttercup grumbled. She had resumed her previous position on the train, head leaning against the glass window of the carriage. "All I want to sleep for a few hours when we get there. Waking up at four in the morning is hard, and I didn't get any sleep because _this one_ ," She reached across the carriage to gently hit her blue sister's dress covered knee, "fell asleep on me. And besides…"

Buttercup grinned wickedly, bright green eyes flashing, "She _SNORES."_

The family laughed as Bubbles indigent protesting could be heard outside the moving carriage, saying that she didn't know _what_ Buttercup was talking about, and that she certainly didn't _snore._

* * *

 **Bellum Manor**

The carriage drove up to a large property with many bare weeping willow trees growing out of the ground, surrounded by a black, iron spiked gate, finally pulling up at a large Victorian house, built out of varying shades of gray brick.

Sara was out of the carriage first, staring up at the house that stood firm against the overcast skies above. She smiled, spreading her arms out and doing a slow twirl, letting the cool November wind toss her red curly hair around.

"Ah, home," She murmured so low that her family could barely hear her. "sweet, sweet home."

She turned back to her family with a genuine smile gracing her flawless face. "I guess I didn't realise how much I missed this house, I grew up here, and I have so many memoires surrounding this place… it's good to be home after all this time."

John returned his wife's smile with one of his own, as he paid the cabby and grabbed his family's luggage.

"Right… shall we go in?" He asked her. Sara let out a giggle, "We shall." She confirmed as she climbed the gray stone steps toward a heavy pair of dark oak doors. Reaching the top, the red clad woman pushed down on the gold handle and the door opened inwards to reveal a large foyer and grand staircase, all made out of white marble.

"Hello?' Sara called out, her sensual voice echoing though the foyer. No response.

"Mother? Papa?" Sara called out confused as she walked further into the room, heels clicking softly on the marble beneath her feet.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home ma." Buttercup stated flatly, entering the room behind her mother, the fabric of her dark green robe like dress swishing softly.

"Did they… possibly forget we were coming?" Blossom asked timidly, looking around the house

"I sent them a letter last night to let them know." Sara responded to her eldest daughter's question. "I payed extra to have it delivered here by morning. Granted, papa doesn't have the best memory, but I don't think that it's _that_ bad."

"Or maybe they didn't receive the letter on time." Bubbles muttered under her breath, rubbing her arms though the blue material of her sleeves.

Suddenly, moment came from a room upstairs of the house. The family paused to hear the sounds of rapid footsteps moving around above their heads. Suddenly the sound of a door opening was heard and more footsteps echoed down the hall above them, before a person began to descend down the grand marble staircase in front of them.

"Sara? Mrs. Sara Bellum? Child, where have you been all these years?" The voice belonged to a plump woman who looked to be in her late sixties' with graying hair. She wore a large smile on her face as she slowly made her way down the staircase.

"Hello nanny!" Sara moved forward to wrap the older woman in a hug, which she reciprocated. "You remember my husband, John Utonium and my daughters? Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles?" she asked.

The older woman let go of her old mistress to look at the family behind her. "I remember you, John Utionum, such a sweet young man. I'm sorry to hear about your brother, I've gone and looked for him myself quite a few times but he hasn't turned up yet…" she sighed. But her eyes lit up when they landed on the sisters.

"I remember you girls, so young when you left, such a pity, you three were the sweetest little things to grace this land. I see you've inherited your mother's beauty, you must have suitors lined up around the block!" she laughed joyfully, as she moved forward to give the girls each a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"More like around the city." The professor muttered into his hand, as he pretended to sneeze.

"What was that?" the plump woman asked him. "Nothing." John responded quickly.

"Nanny, do you know what my parents are?" Sara interrupted before the aging woman could question him father.

The woman groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead. "They got your letter honey, don't worry, but your dear old dad got called away on some business with the Jojo's and he took your mother with him. "

Sara and John both froze suddenly at the mention of the name, and the foyer became silent. The girls however, were struck with the sudden feeling of déjà vu.

"Jojo…" Blossom slowly tested out the name, "I've heard that somewhere before, do we know them?" she gestured to her sisters.

"I feel like we do." Buttercup confirmed scowling, "and I don't like the feeling that comes with it."

"Do we?" Bubbles questioned her parents.

Both of the tall adults were silent for a moment longer before John sighed and responded, "Yes, you do, but I wish that you didn't."

He raised his hands to his face, and groaned into his palms. "First day back here and this happens." He muttered. Lifting his face, he looked toward nanny. "Did they say when they'll be back?"

"Oh probably not until suppertime." Nanny responded truthfully with a small frown. "Business with them always takes a long time, you should know that."

"Well I guess we can wait here then." John said as he ran a hand though his raven locks.

"John… let's just go there." Sara finally spoke up.

"What? Sara darling, no. _HE_ is the _last_ person here that I want to see. I was hoping to come here and leave here _without_ him knowing."

"John, word travels fast in this town, you and I both know that. People talk, he'd find out that we're here eventually. Might as well just go and say hello now and be done with it." Sara argued.

"Well who is he?" Buttercup asked crossing her arms, the frown growing on her face as she spoke.

"Who are _THEY,_ you mean. _"_ The professor corrected his daughter with a stern look.

"You mean there's more than one?"

"Unfortunately." The aging man replied.

"Well then who are _they_?" The snarky raven haired woman shot back.

The professor shared a look with his voluptuous wife who turned her attention to the floor and sighed.

"You'll see soon enough. Back in the carriage girls, we're going to the Jojo Estate."

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

The carriage ride to the Jojo residence was a quite one.

Neither Sara nor the professor spoke, leaving their daughter's to quietly convers among themselves.

"We're pretty far away from Townsville." Bubbles pointed out, as the town slowly faded into the distance and was quickly replaced by large mountains and green rolling hills. "They're very secluded out here daddy." She stated.

The professor could only nod his head at his daughter. "Well that's the way he's always liked it. He was never much of a people person to begin with."

"So, are you going to tell us this man's name..?" Buttercup prodded her father. He could only shake his head slowly. "There isn't much of a point, you'll meet him soon enough. I'll let him re-introduce himself; he really likes to give big, dramatic entrances."

The tall girl only shrugged in response and turned her attention back out the window. "They own all of this?" she gestured to the large expanse of moors outside the window.

"Not this" her father responded. "We're going to pass a large gate up ahead, everything after that is their property."

As soon as he had spoken, the carriage flew threw a massive, ornate stone wall with a metal gate that was already open.

"Well, now this is their land." The professor nodded as he glanced around outside. He frowned suddenly. "Interesting. I remember this place being much more well-groomed and neat; he's really let his lands go which is odd for him being such a neat freak and all." He mused out loud.

Sure enough, as the girls looked put the window they could see what was left of once well-kept gardens and shrubbery that had long since fallen into disarray, odd looking plants covered the majority of the grounds, looking like thick vines springing up from the earth.

"and there it is," the professor stated suddenly, snapping the girls attention back to him. "Jojo manor." As he gestured toward the horizon.

Looming out of the earth against the dark, cloud-covered sky was the biggest mansion that the sisters had ever seen. It looked to be century's old, tall windows with thick curtains in the inside were spaced out evenly on every side of the house, with gray, massive coulombs decorating the front of the structure, bases connecting to a grand stone porch, and were acting as a means of support in holding the roof up. The house itself was made of dark gray stone that seemed to be cracking in various spots, and was covered in thick growths of ivy. And from a distance, the girls could see a massive balcony on the roof, overlooking the front of the property.

As the carriage moved up the long drive-way, the girls could see massive stone statues decorating the sides of the drive-way. Some were of famous artists; others were depicting great battles long since passed. But there was one type of statue that seemed oddly out of place, but kept reoccurring often: it was of massive wolfs, their lips pulled back into fearsome snarls, glowering at the guests.

Bubbles supressed a shudder, these people were obviously not found of guests, and judging from the reactions of her family, she could tell that they thought the same.

The carriage came to a stop in front of massive double doors that towered ominously above the family. John was about to climb the steps to knock, however before he could move, the doors opened and three men stepped out on to the porch.

The first one, who was standing off to the left, was extremely tall and skinny, the man in the middle, was stout and muscular, and finally the last man who was standing on the right of the middle man, was short and bulky. All three were dressed similarly, wearing overcoats over top of business suits with matching hats.

In the dying light of the late afternoon sun, Blossom could tell that something was not quite right with the trio. Their skin seemed to hold a blue-green tinge to them, almost as if they were cold or sick, and their bodies didn't look to be completely… solid. When they moved, their skin seemed to ripple across their faces and any exposed parts of flesh, giving the impression that their skin had the consistency rubber or jelly.

Before she could get a closer look at the trio, the middle one spoke up.

"You must be the Utonium's." he drawled in a foreign accent, as he whipped out a cigar and a lighter. Lifting the roll to his discoloured lips, he lit the end of it, and took a drag, blowing the exhaled smoke toward them.

He pointed to himself and his lackey's on either side of him. "I'm Al, but you can just call me Bossman. This here is Slim," he gestured to the unnaturally skinny man on his left, "and this is Junior." He finished pointing to the small man on his right. "We're the Amoeba Bros."

He continued, "We're employed here to help take care of things at this estate and make sure everything runs smoothly. The monkey who owns this joint wouldn't be able to keep up if it weren't for us." Bossman grumbled, as he took yet another drag on his cigar.

"That's a good word to describe him." The professor muttered bitterly under his breath, causing Bossman to glare sharply at him. He exhaled the used smoke and pointed at Sara with a grin.

"Hi there sweetheart, we know who you are already. Your daddy's still in there with your ma, chatting up a storm with our boss. The guy is talking non-stop about you and your daughters coming to visit, so we kept the gate open for you, just in case you decided to show up, and low and behold." He let out a gravelly chuckle.

"and I must say…" His bloodshot eyes traveled over to stare at the triplets behind her with a crooked grin, "You have some _fine_ looking young ladies."

Sara gapped at the shorter man's boldness, moving to stand in front of her children, as Buttercup began to surge forward, hands curled into fists, ready to pulmle the discoloured trio.

"ENOUGH!" John snarled suddenly, catching them all off guard. "I'm in no mood for this nonsense! Where is Mojo? I'm not here looking for trouble; I'm just here to grab the Mayor and Mrs. Bellum, take them back to the manor so I can speak to them, and then go out and search for my brother, who is _still_ missing! Now you take me to them, or so help me GOD I WILL—"

"Whoa buddy," the professor was interrupted by the shorter man. "Your John right? John Utonium? Have you not heard the news yet?" Bossman asked.

"What. News." John almost hissed, fists clenched tightly at his sides.

But the stout man only glanced at his comrades before a sly grin spread up his blue tinted cheeks. They shuffled over to one side, skin rippling as they did so, leaving the doorway open for the family to enter.

"I think it's better if the Mayor explains it." Was the response that the Utonium's received. "He's better at words then we are. Enjoy your stay at the Jojo estate folks." Bossman grinned down at the family, and without another word, all three turned around and walked away, disappearing out of sight.

"Who the hell were they?!" Buttercup exploded not a moment later.

"I don't know." The professor shook his head, still fuming from the exchange. "They're new. But I hope we don't run into them again." He let out a frustrated sigh, as he looked back at his tired family. "Let's just get this over with." He muttered as they climbed the steps to the intimidating doors and entered the house-hold.

* * *

Entering the mansion, the family was greeted to the most massive foyer that they had ever been in. An ancient, chandelier, thick with cob-webs hung above their heads, giving them a low means of visibility in the dark room. A large dark wood carpeted staircase was in front of them that split off into two separate staircases at the top, one leading left, and the other right. From what the Utonium's could tell, almost the whole interior of the mansion was made of the dark wood except for the floors, which were a graying white marble. A peculiar thing that they noticed was that, while the interior had massive windows, all had their thick blood-red curtains shut, effectively cancelling out any other means of light aside from the chandelier and many lit candles, scattered about, despite the fact that it was only late afternoon.

"WHO IS THERE?" a deep accented voice boomed from a room off to the family's right. "YOU ARE ON PRIVET PROPERTY THAT BELONGS TO MYSELF, MOOOOJOOOO JOJO, AND YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN MY HOME I INSIST THAT YOU LEAV—"

The ranting was cut off abruptly, as a short, ape-like looking man suddenly appeared from the room where the shouting was coming from originally. The stout man, with thick hairy arms gaped at the family standing in front of him, and his jaw almost hit the floor in surprise.

"John?" He asked in his accented voice, raising a confused eyebrow.

The aforementioned man sighed and bent down to the shorter man's level to shake his hand.

"Hello Mojo, it's been a long time." He stated softy.

"I, well, yes, it has been." The ape like man replied still baffled by the other's appearance. "You left, saying you were never going to come back here, and yet, you are here." He muttered, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Well if you haven't heard, my brother had been missing for the past few days, so I came with my family to find him, and I'm not leaving until I do." The professor informed him. "I was going to let you re-introduce yourself to my daughters, but I don't think you have to now." He gestured to his daughters standing behind him.

Mojo's eyes widened as he saw the woman standing behind them, and he moved forward to grasp their hand and plant a polite kiss on each one. "My dears, it has been such a long time since I last saw you. I suppose you would not quite remember your father's old lab partner, would you?" he asked them.

Blossom's eyes widened, "He's your old lab partner father?" she asked. Professor Utonium nodded, "Yes, we were able to create many inventions together before we left." He confirmed.

"Well in that case, it's very nice to meet you again sir." His clad in pink daughter responded, giving Mojo a small bow. But the short man only shook his head, "No, no, the pleasure is all mine my dear." He glanced up at all three daughters. "You three used to spend so much time here when you lived in Townsville, I trust you will do the same now that your back again for the time being?" He questioned.

"Well, the main reason why we're here is to find my brother, so there is a good chance that we may not stop back here," The professor said quietly. "We're just here to grab the Mayor and Mrs. Bellum and be on our way. We won't trouble you any longer." He seemed to grow increasingly nervous, glancing around the foyer, as if looking for someone.

Mojo frowned at that. "But it's getting dark outside, and it's nearly suppertime, the Mayor and his wife have already both agreed to stay for dinner, and my chef is whipping up a special treat tonight for them. Why don't you join us?" He questioned.

"O-oh well we really, don't want to intrude…" The professor stuttered, eyes still flicking around the room and staircase.

"Nonsense, I insist!" The ape like man boomed, as he began ushering the family into the room that he had come out of.

"That would be very kind of you Mojo, my husband and daughters are all very tired, and I think a good meal would do them all some good." Sara cast a small, strained smile down at the man in question.

He gave her a small smile back. "Sara my dear, it is good to see you. Your beauty and kindness has not left you I see." He chuckled. Then his eyes lit up.

"Oh and at dinner, you girls can meet my sons again! I know they will be looking forward to seeing you three again, after all: you six spent soo much time together here at this house."

Buttercup suddenly got a strange look on her face and she paused. "Is there three of them, per chance?" she asked. Mojo gave the obsidian haired girl a grin, showing off unnaturally sharp teeth. "So you _do_ remember them, if only a little." He paused, "Yes I have three sons, all your ages too." He nodded toward the three sisters.

At the mention of Mojo's sons, the professor went as white as a sheet. "O-oh," he stuttered. So they _are_ here are they?" "Well yes of course, where else would they be?" Mojo responded. "They're probably upstairs somewhere, or possibly still asleep, I swear those boys are nocturnal creatures." He muttered casting a side long glance toward the stair case. "Don't worry, they'll be down for dinner, you girls can become reinstated with them then."

"That won't be necessary. I can re-introduce myself to them now."

A dark voice with a slight rasp to it, almost as if the speaker had just woken up recently, echoed from the top of the large staircase.

The Utonium family quickly turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Leaning over the banister, silhouetted against the low light of the chandelier, stood a tall, muscular young male, with long, dark red hair steaming messily behind his back. The most distinct feature about him was his eyes. Even from a distance, they could clearly make out a pair of intense, glowing, crimson eyes.

Mojo smiled, whereas the professor went as white as a ghost upon seeing him. "Ah, there he is, my prodigal son. Care to join us my eldest?" he asked his child.

The male slowly stretched as he stood up straight, back popping as he did so. "You know what dad, think I will." He rumbled deep in his throat as he began to descend the stairs.

He made eye contact with each of the Utonium family members as he did so, a smirk growing on his face as he saw the range of difference emotions on their faces.

Finally he made eye contact with Blossom and his gaze rested on her slender frame. Crimson orbs starting into rose. Then he grinned.

"Hello pinky."

All the time that she had been staring at him, Blossom knew that she knew the young male in front of her, she was certain of that, but she could not remember his name for the life of her. However, when he had spoken to her, calling her that nick-name, something clicked in her mind, and she gasped suddenly as a flood of memories that she forget that she had, came flooding back to her all at once.

"BRICK?"

* * *

 **Authors note:** _Wow, this turned out to be almost twice as long then I had originally planned. Unfortunately this was not an exciting chapter, ie no one got attacked or killed, but it was a chapter that had to happen. I needed one to introduce most of the character cast and explain what 18_ _th_ _century Townsville looks like. I figured I'll get it out of the way now so I don't have to keep explaining as I go along, and we can get back to our regularly scheduled program in chapter 3. But hey, we got to catch a glimpse of one of our leading boys at the end! His brothers will make their grand debut in the beginning of chapter 3. Also, things really start to heat up in the third chapter, which will likely be released next week at some point, stay tuned._

 _A side note, we now know one the things, or should I say, people, that are making the professor so nervous. But why is that? It shall be revealed in later chapters…_

 _Stay amazing lovelies_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	3. Table talk

**Lycan**

 **Chapter 3: Table talk**

 _It must be a wonderful luxury doing battle with imaginary demons._

 _Mine right now are very much real_

 _\- The Wolfman_

Brick slowly made his way down the rest of the staircase, his crimson eyes not leaving Blossom's. His steps were slow and deliberate, almost predatory. Finally he stood in front of her, his lean frame towering easily over hers and standing well past over six feet in height, forcing the smaller woman to tilt her head up in order to maintain eye contact with him.

He let out a low chuckle at her dumbfounded expression. "Aw, I'm hurt Pinky, you forgot about me, didn't you?"

"Not completely." Blossom murmured, breaking eye contact with him and dropping her gaze to the marble floor.

Brick smirked at the notion, before reaching forward to give the professor's head a firm shake. "Professor," he greeted formally, "Nice to see you and your family again." The professor could only nod as a small shiver ran though-out him, as the blood red orbs washed over him. "A-always nice to see you as well Brick, I see that you've grown into a fine young man."

Brick only gave his head a small shake, drawing back to look down at his father. "Butch and Boomer are up, I'm sure they'll be eager to see the girls again, in the meantime, I'll go alert the Mayor and his wife that their family is here." He glanced back up to the family who were still giving him an interesting mixture of looks, and grinned at the sisters.

"Really though, I'm glad to see the three of you again. It's been _far_ too long, I know my brother's feel the same."

With that, he turned and disappeared through a massive archway in front of them, calling out to unseen people in the house.

Mojo turned back to the Utonium's and gave them a smug smile. "I'm sure that you all mostly remember my eldest son Brick? He's grown into quite the brilliant young man now." He stated proudly.

"I remember him being a lot different from when we were younger." Blossom stated quietly, lifting her gaze from the floor to stare after Brick.

"Well it's been almost fifteen years since you've last seen him. People are prone to change. My sons are no different." Mojo sniffed. "Come, I'll take you to see the Mayor. Butch and Boomer will join us shortly."

* * *

Mojo lead them into an elaborately decorated living room. Exotic paintings, rugs and couches were placed about the room, and a roaring fire was going in the massive ornate fireplace off to the side. The two biggest couches were placed strategically in the middle of the room and were facing across from one another. On one, sat Brick and the other were two very tiny elderly people sitting beside each other, barely taking up a couch cushion.

The elderly man turned around, and upon noticing the Utonium family, he bolted up off the couch, running over to them with surprizing speed.

"My daughter, my son-in-law, oh my god my _GRANDDAUGHTERS!_ " He screeched excitedly, as he flung himself at them.

Sara caught her excited father and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Hello papa, I've missed you so much." She murmured, before passing him off to her daughters, moving forward to see her elderly mother who excitedly greeted her.

The girls took turns greeting their excited grandfather, laughing at the excitable old man, before he dragged them over to sit on the couch next to him and their grandmother, who greeted them with the same vigor as he husband, leaving ruby red lipstick kisses on each of their cheeks, which Buttercup discreetly wiped off when no one was looking.

The family shared pleasantries and caught up with each other, while Mojo and Brick looked on amused. Suddenly, a deep sound of a throat clearing caught everyone's attention.

An extremely tall man, even taller than Brick or the Professor, stood leaning on the doorway with a grin on his face. He was well built, with a barrel chest, strong legs and muscular arms. His obsidian black hair was jelled into spikes, and his deep forest green eyes swept lazily around the room.

They found Buttercup's bright green orbs, and his dark forest eyes lit up with excitement. "Buttercup? Is that you?" He questioned.

Buttercup only narrowed her eyes at him. "The one and only." She confirmed, slowly standing up to get a better look the new male in the room.

His eyes swept up and down her long, lean figure once and then moved back to her eyes, smirking.

"Well damn, if I'd known you'd become such a looker when we got older, I wouldn't have beat you so badly fighting when we were kids."

The statement earned a barking laugh out of Brick, and confused and bewildered looks from the rest of the Utonium clan. Buttercup however, flushed angrily, throwing her long dark mane over her shoulder as she snarled: "Really? Because I seem to recall making you eat a fair share of grass when we were five, _Butch_."

The raven haired man's smirk only got wider, as he winked at her. "Nice to know you didn't forget about me completely babe. We'll have to play catch up sweetheart."

He then turned to call over his shoulder, "Oi, Boomer, get your ass in here and say hello." before making his way over to sit beside his older brother on the sofa.

A soft thumping sound was heard before a tall, lean, blonde male with electric cobalt blue eyes, turned the corner and made his way into the living room.

"Hello," he nodded at them politely. His eyes met Bubble's sky blue ones, and for the briefest of moment's he looked almost… shy. Then his dark blue gaze hardened and he straightened. "Bubbles, I've missed you. You've been gone for a pretty long time. I've missed the time that we spent together as children; hopefully we'll be able to spend some time together while you're here." He spoke to her, with the tiniest of smiles on his face.

Bubbles didn't seem to pick up on his brief hesitation before, as she quickly responded. "Hello Boomer! I remember you now; I'd love to spend some time with you! Maybe you could show me around the house later?" she questioned him with a genuinely happy smile.

A small tint of red appeared across Boomers cheeks, contrasting with his dark blue eyes and clothing. "Absolutely." He promised with a tiny grin that mirrored his elder brothers. Before he, like Butch, went to go sit with his family.

The professor on the other hand, grew paler and paler with the appearance of the three triplet brothers. If one had looked closely, the brothers seemed to be leering at him, if only slightly.

"Oh it's so nice that you'll be joining us for supper!" The Mayor supplied, "Mojo say's that we'll be having several dishes of _pickles!_ " The tiny man's mouth watered at the thought of it.

"You'll never change my dear." His elderly spouse told him fondly, gently placing a hand on his knee.

"Well, yes, while that is all very well and good," the professor spoke up nervously, keeping an eye on the three brothers across from him. "Mayor, I'm also here to talk to you about my brother, and if his disappearance and the other murders in the town are connected somehow. Though I pray to god that their not." He muttered the last part.

This caused the Mayor to freeze in the middle of his happy rambling, and the members of the Jojo family to stiffen slightly. The Mayor turned toward his son-in-law and gave him an uncharacteristically grave look. John's eyes began to water slightly; he didn't want to hear what his father-in-law was going to tell him.

"My boy, has no one bothered to tell you since you got here?" He asked seriously. "No." John responded softly. "What were they supposed to tell me? We only just got here an hour ago…"

The Mayor sighed, hopping off the couch and griping John's hand in his own, squeezing it tightly.

"Son… your brother's body was found in a ditch early this morning, just outside of town. He'd been ripped to pieces."

* * *

Later in the evening, when the two families were sitting down in the Jojo's dark dining room, ready to eat, John had said absolutely nothing.

He hadn't spoken for the past several hours, adopting a blank, expressionless look on his face, too stunned to even cry. He had known that at the back of his mind, that there was a possibility that Eugene could have turned up dead, but he had refused to think about it. But now, hearing the confirmation that his younger brother was indeed gone… It was too much for him to handle.

It also didn't help that he was surrounded by the very family that he had desperately hoped that he would never see again.

"I'm very sorry to hear about your brother John." Mojo kept saying as the families were served their dinner on expensive looking silverware. "We ourselves only found out when the Mayor told us. A shame, Eugene was an adventurous soul, and was about to be wed to Miss. Jennifer Keane. They were always very happy together. A pity this happened, so soon before their wedding day."

"Hrm? Oh, yes. A pity indeed." John muttered distractedly lifting his head up briefly to stare at the ape like man in front of him.

"Forgive me if this comes across as rude, but I _really_ _don't_ wish to talk about that at the moment. I'll… I'll go into town tomorrow to have a closer look at the body to find out what happened to him. You said he was at the morgue Mayor?" He shifted his blood-shot eyes to the monical wearing man in question.

"He's there." The tiny man confirmed, picking at his dish of deep boiled pickles. "You can pick up the possession's that were found on his body there as well if you'd like. I've had a messenger inform Miss. Keane of the events as well, she'll meet you there in the morning."

"I feel so sorry for Jennifer," Sara stated, "She was so looking forward to marrying Eugene and a month before the wedding… this happens." Casting a side long look at her depleted looking husband beside her, she reached over to grasp his hand in her tan one. "Anyways, changing the topic…"

"Yes changing the topic," Mojo jumped in, looking directly across from him at Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles, he smiled at them and asked, "Are you three beauties engaged to be married? You're roughly at that age, are you not?"

The sudden question caught all three females off guard, casing Blossom to stiffen, Bubbles's eyes to widen in surprise, and Buttercup to almost choke on her wine.

"No!" The darker girl exclaimed in shock, before her sisters could get a word out, "No, none of us are. I could care less for the men of Citysville, always pestering me and my sisters." She almost snarled at her host.

"Oh, so you're available then?" Butch suddenly spoke up, eyes flashing maliciously as he eyed the obsidian beauty across from his spot at the table.

Buttercup almost rolled her eyes at the extremely tall male, but suppressed the urge. "Don't even try it Butch. We'll only be here in Townsville for a short while and then we'll be heading back to Citysville."

"So, your stay here is only temporary then?" Boomer cut in. "Yes." Buttercup responded curtly. "Huh," Boomer replied, picking at his food. "For a while my brothers and I were under the impression that your family had moved back here for good. I suppose we were… misinformed." He shot a glare at Brick, which the older male returned with a scowl of his own, glaring down at his own plate.

"My daughters will not marry anyone from here."

All of the heads at the table turned to stare at the professor with surprise. The statement that had come from his mouth was cold and firm, unlike the distant and jittery phrases that he had uttered beforehand. His head was still hung over, staring at his plate; however his eyes blazed with anger.

"This place brings nothing but despair and misery to those who live here. This place has a sickness to it, and we _will_ be leaving here as soon as we find out what happened to my brother. I would never _ever_ marry off my daughter's to someone who lived here. Not unless we were _forced_ to stay. Which will _never_ happen." He snapped firmly.

"On the contrary Professor," Butch stated, his deep forest green orbs lazily eyeing the older man, "There are plenty of women who would _love_ to get with me and my brothers. We have wealth; power, all of the qualities of a worthy suitor. Think of it as a… golden opportunity."

"If you are asking for my daughter's hand Butch, the answer is no." The professor stated firmly.

"You can't be serious Butch." Buttercup shook her head slowly. "We just met again for the first time in close to fifteen years and you're asking for my hand?" She glowered at him. "You've got a lot of nerve, imposing like that." She snapped.

"Oh I'm not asking right _now_." Butch smirked, resting his elbows on the table top, leering at her, "I'm just saying: my brothers and I? We're goldmines." He grinned crookedly at her. "Besides, you're what? Close to twenty? As am I. Technically you should have gotten a suitor at least by eighteen, but I can see your dad has been hiding you away."

He paused. "I don't know what the marriage laws in Citysville are, but in Townsville most girls are married off at eighteen, it's almost a law here, because the town's population is so small. Unless there is some specific reasons of course. Miss Keane is a pretty good example…"

"That's for _residences_ of the town." Buttercup shot back with a smirk, "We're only _guests_."

Butch just let out a tiny chuckle at the fiery raven haired woman. "We'll see." He murmured under his breath, so low that only his brothers could hear.

"Ah, I think that we should move on the conversation to something else…" Sara tried to cut in, nervously wringing her red hair, subtly casting glances over to her middle child, trying to tell her without using words to calm down.

"Yes, since your son is so keen as to finding himself a wife, for god knows what reason," The professor snapped lifting his head to glare at Mojo, "I have to ask: Where is Sudusa?"

The dinner table became absolutely silent as a hush fell over the members of the Jojo family. The boys shot each other slightly nervous glances as they stared at their father, who looked as if he had been hit with a blunt object.

Finally after a moment more of complete silence, Mojo relaxed his posture. Picking up his utensils that he had dropped when the question was posed to him, he coolly responded: "She's away over in Europe, visiting with some family members."

"Really? I didn't know that!" The Mayor exclaimed loudly, "I thought that she had left _years_ ago, I haven't seen her in ages!" only for his wife to nudge him gently, trying to inform him that his question had come off as rather rude.

The professor frowned at the statement, and opened his mouth to ask another question, before his youngest cut in. "Um, excuse me, but who is Sudusa?" Bubbles asked gently.

"Sudusa is Mojo's wife, and the mother of the boys." Sara informed her daughter. "We went to school together as young girls along with Miss. Keane. I haven't seen her in a very long time."

"Sounds like no one has." The professor grumbled, dropping his head back down to stare at his plate, his energy drained.

"She… extended her visit." Mojo covered quickly. "Isn't that right boys?" He asked his sons.

Brick only let a small grin escape him. "Sure… if you want to say that."

"She kinda hates it here." Boomer chuckled nervously, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"Naw, she just hates _us,_ there's a difference." Butch gave a sinister looking smirk as he dug into the steak that had been placed on his plate.

Once again, a cold shift took hold of the table, and Brick not so subtlety kicked him under the table.

"Joking, joking." Butch laughed darkly, swallowing his steak. "No, she just hates it here at the house. Said it was too dark or something of the likes."

"Strange." Blossom spoke up, "I remember coming here with my sister's and father when we still lived here, but I don't ever remember seeing her around the mansion when my sisters and I were- Never mind." She finished quickly, seeing Brick staring at her.

"She was probably up in her room the times that you girls were here." Mojo informed her with a wave of his hand. "She rarely ever left. She had her struggles with life and being here just seemed to drain her further."

"Alright…" Blossom nodded, slightly unconvinced. "Was she ill?"

"Mentally I suppose." Mojo shrugged. "She… had her own imaginary demons to battle, and apparently being here didn't seem to help much."

"Well that's a luxury I can't afford. Seeing as mine are currently very real…" John whispered under his breath, casting a hidden look up at the three intimidating males across from him and his family.

Brick caught the hidden look and met the professor's gaze, holding it with his unnatural crimson orbs, before sending him a wink and tearing into his steak like Butch.

John grew increasingly pale at the unannounced threat. It did not pass by unnoticed, as Sara turned her head to look over at her spouse.

"John? My goodness your as white as a sheet, are you sure that you're alright? We can leave if you need to." Sara told him gently.

"I will probably take you up on that offer soon dear; I'm truly not feeling well." John muttered as he slunk back in his chair.

"Oh, well, John if you need to go, then please just say the word and we'll leave!" The Mayor declared. "You've had a dreadful day, and tomorrow isn't going to be much better. I wouldn't want to prolong it any more than necessary." He told his son-in-law.

"I… I think that it may be beneficial if we leave." John replied, wearily eyeing the boys who looked as if they were sending glares at him. "It's been a long day for my family and I, we need some rest."

He nodded his head at Mojo, "Forgive me if I came off as hostile earlier, it's just been a… extraordinarily trying day, I'm afraid I've been pushed far past my limit."

Mojo only nodded. "It's quite understandable John, no need to apologize, I can understand that today has been a rough one, and if you need to leave, by all means..." He turned in his chair to give his sons a brief look. "I'll have the Amoeba Boys, my new assistances; escort you and your family out."

"Oh please don't." groaned the professor. "I meant to tell you earlier, but we've already had a bit of a run in with them when we first arrived. They made a… rather aggressive pass at my daughters, and I would rather not have to deal with them again if you don't mind."

"Oh did they now?" Brick looked up sharply at the news, his question almost a snarl. When he caught sight of Blossom giving him a questionable look, he's face relaxed and he stated calmly, "That was rude of them. We'll have a talk about it. Don't worry professor, it won't happen again."

John bowed his head lightly and the red-haired man. "Thank you Brick, if you wouldn't mind, I and my daughter's would appreciate it." He paused hesitant, before saying, "They are… an odd group, if you don't mind me saying."

Boomer let out a snort, "You have _no_ idea." He grumbled.

Mojo shot him a look before turning his attention back to his guests who were starting to gather their belongings and leave the table. "Then allow us to escort you out then." He told John with a small smile, as he slid off of his chair and led the way out of the dining room, Brick, Butch and Boomer in tow.

* * *

Outside the mansion, as the Utonium's were bidding their hosts good night, Mojo pulled John aside to speak to him.

"John, I know that when you left Townsville, we were, well, not on the best of terms, but I am truly sorry about what happened to Eugene. This is not the first time that this has happened here, I'm sure you've heard about Fuzzy Lumpkins?"

John nodded in confirmation.

"Well there was more before him I'm afraid. I'm thinking that we may have a serial killer in our midst."

John's eye's winded slightly and he leaned in closer. "What would make you come to that conclusion?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"All of the bodies have been found in the same manner. Torn up and dumped in the woods." Mojo told him.

"But if they were all found by the woods… wouldn't it make more sense for it to be an animal of some sort?" John asked, trying to make sense of what Mojo was implying.

Mojo just grimaced. "If you saw the bodies you would understand why I think it is not an animal that is doing this."

"You've seen them?" John asked his former partner, surprised. "I've seen Lumpkins." Mojo admitted. "The authorities here can't figure out what is going on here, so they asked me, the smartest man here to come and look at the bodies to try and determine if it was animal or man."

"and what did you find?" John asked, genuinely curious. "I'm not sure honestly." Mojo responded, "That's why I think that we should work together on this John."

"What?" the taller man asked incredulously, "Mojo, we are _not_ detectives, we wouldn't know where to begin, and this is something that is far out of our league…"

"But it's not John." Mojo interrupted. "We are _scientists_. We are the two most brilliant men in Townsville. If anyone could figure out what is going on here it's _us._ I can get us access to the bodies, the deceased's records, anything really! It's all in our grasp! The police _want_ our help John, before this mess gets any worse."

"Well… " John started before Mojo placed a hand on his shoulder. "John, I know that you don't want to be stuck in Townsville any longer then you need to, but the people here may actually end up needing you more than the people in Citysville. They're scared John. All they want is answers, and we as scientists are supposed to give it to them."

The ape like man stared up at his former college. "So what do you say? Shall we partner up like old times?"

The taller man sighed, placing a hand on Mojo's shoulder. "I'll… I'll let you know after I see my brother tomorrow. I honestly don't know what to think of this whole situation anymore."

The shorter man sighed. "John, let me help you. I know we left on bad terms but I promise you, this time things will be different. Things are better here now, or they will be once we figure out the killings…"

John glanced back behind him. Sara and her parents had already gotten in the carriage waiting to take them back to the Bellum manor, and his daughters were saying their goodbyes to Mojo's sons.

 _His sons…_

He turned back to face Mojo with a firm look on his face. "We'll see." He told him. "I'll let you know tomorrow what my answer is. In the meanwhile…"

He straightened, staring down at the short, thick-armed man, "I'll be keeping a close eye on your _sons_ as well." And with that, he turned around and briskly walked to the awaiting carriage.

Mojo only grinned, watching his former lab partner disappear into the carriage with his wife and her idiot parents. A sharp toothed grin stretching across his face.

"Oh, I'm _counting_ on it John. I'm counting on it."

* * *

"It was nice seeing you again Blossom."

Brick told the rose orbed girl quietly, as he walked her to her ride.

She nodded politely at him. "It was nice to see you as well Brick, you've… changed since I last saw you."

"Well it _has_ been a long time, since we last saw each other. You've changed too." He informed her, his crimson gaze sweeping over her again. He sure did know how to make a person feel small…

"How is it that you have all of these memories of me and my sisters, and I can barely remember any of you and your brothers?" Blossom asked him curiously.

Brick just let out a laugh. "Still asking so many questions as usual," he shook his head, red hair blowing gently in the cold night breeze. "I suppose it's because aside from you and you're sisters, we didn't really know any other children. We were always around you three, and we never met any other children our age, so I guess we just remembered it better in the end."

"Oh." Blossom frowned, "Then what did you do after we left?" "We hardy go into the village, if at all." Brick answered, "So it's always been just my brothers and I, which I think that I liked better in the end. Other people tend to wear me out after a bit." He shrugged.

"Me too," Blossom admitted. "That's part of the reason that I looked forward to coming back here actually. Citysville is a nice place, don't get me wrong, but Townsville has always been quiet and peaceful, and I really missed that."

"Even after all of the events that caused your family to leave in the first place?"

Blossom snapped her head toward Brick, who looked like he could have slapped himself.

"About that, my father won't tell us what exactly happened. Could yo-"

"Blossom it's time to leave now, finish saying your goodbyes to Brick and lets be on our way." The professor said, coming up behind his eldest, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded and turned to face Brick again. "Some other time perhaps?" she asked.

"Of course. When could I see you again?" he polity questioned her.

Blossom cast a glance over her shoulder at her father who was now gathering up her sisters. "I feel as if our stay here is going to be extended for a little while longer, so if you come into town at some point, I'll let you know." She told him.

Brick nodded at her. "Alright, sounds fair." He turned his head up to look at the clear night sky, and Blossom followed his gaze. A half-moon was clearly visible high in the dark sky above. Blossom watched, interested as a massive shiver ran through his body, and his pupils seemed to dilate as the moon shone in his eyes. A strange look that she had never seen on a person before crossed his face before he suddenly shook it off, and turned his attention back to her.

Brick bowed his head respectfully at her. "Have a good night Blossom, stay safe while you're here, and whatever you do… don't go out into the woods at night. They're not safe."

Blossom frowned and once again, she wanted to question what he meant by that, before Buttercup brushed passed her shoulder roughly, grabbing her hand as she did so.

"Come on, let's go." she growled in her elder sisters ear. It was then that Blossom noticed that Butch was laughing a few feet away from where Buttercup was dragging her.

"Bye Cupcake, come back and see me soon! Better yet, I'll come see you!" he managed to get out between laughs.

"What happened?" Blossom asked as she was roughly shoved into the carriage with her parents and grandparents by her sister. "Don't ask." Buttercup growled, "That boy's mind is all over the damn place. I can't understand it."

Finally seated, Blossom turned her attention to the window where she spied Bubbles and Boomer talking just outside the carriage, both blues had smiles present on their faces and looked genially happy to be reunited with each other.

Bubbles climbed into the carriage after her sisters, but not before Boomer gently took hold of the smaller blonde girl's hand to press a kiss to it, causing the blue clad girl to blush furiously. Wishing him a goodnight, she ducked into the carriage, sitting with Blossom and Buttercup, not noticing the horrified look on her father's face.

Mojo finally approached the carriage, shutting the door for them, his sons moving to stand behind him.

"Now John, do think about what I said. I really do believe that we can figure this out if we work together." He said, having to stand on his toes in order to reach the window.

"As I said, I'll give you my answer tomorrow, I promise." The professor replied solemnly.

Mojo nodded, shifting his attention to the three sisters. "In the meantime, you girls are welcome here at my house hold any time you would like. We would be happy to have you here." He told them with a smile.

"That's very kind of you, thank you for the invitation Mr. Jojo." Blossom responded graciously. "I'm sure that we will take you up on your offer soon."

"And thank _you_ for dinner!" the Mayor grinned joyfully stroking his long white mustache.

"My pleasure Mayor, come back again anytime." Mojo nodded.

"Have a safe ride back to your manor, goodnight." He told them, and with that, the carriage took off down the dark road, off the estate and into the dark of the night.

* * *

"So." Bubbles broke the silence on the way back to the Bellum manor, causing the rest of her family to look at her.

The blonde let out a bubbly giggle. "Did Butch propose to you?" She laughed at her green clad sister.

"I honestly don't have a clue." Buttercup shook her head, long wild hair hitting both of her sisters who sputtered in protest.

"It _sounded_ like it, but with that psychopath anything is possible. What do you think dad?" she turned her lime green eyes to her father in question.

The professor only scowled. "God I hope not." He grumbled, taking Sara's hand in his own. "Of all of the men who could be a decent suitor, why does he have to be the most aggressive?"

"Relax dad, it's not like I said yes."

* * *

As soon as the Utonium's carriage had disappeared from sight Mojo turned to his sons scowling.

"You three need to control yourself better." He snapped. "Especially you." He pointed a finger at Butch who just smirked at his father.

"What can I say? Buttercup has turned into a massive looker." He grinned. "I can't help it, maybe it's because she's grown out her hair…"

"Listen to me, all three of you." Mojo growled, "You must control yourselves for the time being. No more of this foolishness, understand?" His scowl grew deeper. "We have a task to complete. Let's not forget about that." And with that he turned and headed back toward the mansion.

As soon as the dark double doors had swung shut, the brothers glared at each other.

"You just _had_ to propose to her didn't you Butch?" Brick hissed. "Like that's not going to set off any red flags to them or their family."

"I didn't officially propose to her." Butch chuckled. "I was just stating the obvious about us, and making sure that they didn't have anyone else that we would have to deal with. And besides, it won't matter anyways. They are our property. Have been since the day we met them. They've just… forgotten, for the time being." He grinned maliciously.

"They don't seem to remember much about us." Boomer agreed. "Maybe that's for the better right now."

"Yes," Brick muttered "for now, it's better to keep them in the dark. We'll let them in on our little secret when the time is right."

A hush fell over the three boys, all three staring up at the sky, half-moon taunting them.

"So…" Butch growled lowly, "The Amoeba bros…"

"We'll deal with them later." Brick muttered, not taking his eyes off of the moon. "We'll let them off the hook this once, but if it happens again…" he trailed off.

"We'll show them that those girls are not to be messed with."

* * *

 **Authors note:** _Ok, this chapter didn't exactly turn out how I originally planned, but I don't hate it. I really do think that it is detrimental to the plot as things are starting to become clearer now, but there are still many hidden secrets. This chapter was originally going to be much longer however, there was a lot of time spent at the Ruff's estate, and I figured it would be better if I put the part where the Professor visits the morgue in the next chapter. Things begin to heat up rapidly in chapter 4. They were supposed to in this one, but I figured that it would be best to use this one to build up suspense and introduce a new character._

 _Speaking of which, Butch and Boomer finally made their appearances! I tried to give them their own sets of personalities: Brick is serious and rather sarcastic, Butch is a bit of a flirt and is a rather violent and dark character, who just makes his own rules, as you can already tell, and Boomer is… not exactly shy, but has more of a reserved nature and is also a gentleman._

 _I actually ended up making a bit of a mistake: 1829 was not part of the 18_ _th_ _century, but the 19_ _th_ _as the 19_ _th_ _century started in 1801, so I had to fix that. I even did research to find out marriage laws and customs during that time period: During the 19_ _th_ _century woman were usually in their early twenties before being married off, so I'm technically correct with the girl's ages in that category. HOWEVER there were some towns that had a low population, in which girls could be married off earlier as a means to increase the population, SUCH AS TOWNSVILLE, which was what Butch was mentioning above._

 _A part of the dinner conversations were based off the quote at the beginning, as I found it fit so well with the story. The professor's demons are very much alive and are sitting across from him at a dinner table, so it's no wonder that he would be frightened! Why he is so scared of them though remains to be seen…_

 _So, things we learned in this chapter:_

 _1\. Butch may or may not have discreetly proposed to Buttercup._

 _2\. The girls and boys spent a fair amount of time together as children at the estate._

 _3\. The boys have a mother named Sudusa who is currently "overseas."_

 _4\. Mojo has ulterior motives._

 _5\. The boys referred to the girls as their "property" and share a very interesting bond with them. But what does it mean?_

 _Thank you so much for all of the amazing reviews and favourites on this story! There is a ton of positive feedback on this, you guys really seem to enjoy it, and I'm getting pretty into it as well! You can expect chapter 4 to be done by the end of next week or possibly sooner so stay tuned!_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	4. The morgue

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _If you have a sensitive stomach, and are squeamish about blood, mangled limbs etc. but would like to read the chapter, I would advise skipping over the professor's morgue visit, as it gets rather uncomfortable. You have been warned._

 _Any themes that are similar to the film: The Wolfman, does not belong to me, and belongs to its rightful owners. I only use it for inspiration._

 _The Powerpuff Girls don't belong to me, and they have human appendages._

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The morgue**

Bright green eyes opened with a groan against the mid-morning light streaming in through the large bay windows in the vaulted ceilinged bed-room.

Buttercup sat up slowly in the queen sized bed that she had fallen asleep on last night. She paused. This was not her room, and the bustling noise of Citysville was nowhere to be heard from outside the window.

The raven haired girl let out another groan as she slapped a hand to her forehead. She and her sisters weren't even in Citysville right now. They were back in her old village Townsville, staying with their parents in their grandparents manor.

The tall female rose slowly from the bed, stretching and popping her back, letting the light green night gown she was wearing pool at her feet. She made her way over to the door and exited her room, peering down the long corridor.

"Blossom? Bubbles?" She called softly, stifling a yawn.

No response.

Buttercup only shrugged, ' _Must be downstairs.'_ She thought as she made her way over to the white marble staircase.

Halfway down she heard noses echoing from where she assumed was the kitchen. Following the sound, she was greeted to the sight of her family sitting around a massive oak table, enjoying a large, colourful breakfast, all talking amongst themselves happily.

"Good morning Buttercup!" Bubbles chirped happily upon seeing her older sister enter the kitchen. "It's about time you woke up! Come sit with me!" she demanded, patting an empty chair next to her.

Buttercup chuckled as she made her way over to sit beside her youngest sister. Grabbing a plate, she piled on some eggs, toast and fruit, before greeting the rest of her family and taking a seat.

"How did you sleep dear?" Sara asked her middle daughter kindly, taking a sip of her tea.

"Good, very good, it's so quiet here I had no problems staying asleep." Buttercup grinned as she dug into her eggs.

"Well that's just great to hear!" her grandfather chimed in over a mouthful of what Buttercup could only assume to be pickles with fruit on the side. "I was thinking about showing you girls around town today, let you explore for a bit, how does that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Blossom smiled as she nibbled at her strawberries, "I mean, providing that Buttercup put on some actual clothes of course." She giggled.

Buttercup stole a glance around the table only to discover that everyone was already dressed except for her, causing a small blush to spread across her cheeks at the sound of her sister's giggles.

"Hush you; I can be ready in five." Buttercup responded, finishing her toast and standing up to place her dishes in the sink, before she paused, noticing that someone was missing.

"Hey, where's dad?"

The question caused the table to go silent, until Sara spoke up.

"He's visiting the morgue sweetheart, he left early this morning before you and your sisters got up. I don't expect him to be back anytime soon."

"Ah…" Buttercup bowed her head slightly at the answer. That's right, she mused in her head. Her uncle had been found yesterday, torn to pieces in the woods, and his body was being preserved at the town's morgue, waiting her father's inspection.

The raven haired woman sighed, shaking her head. That had been a terrible dinner at the Jojo residence last night, with… _that_ serving as the main dinner topic.

She raised her head and nodded once. "I hope he's alright." Not wanting to dwell on the subject any longer then she had to, she turned to her sisters.

"I'll be ready in five minutes, be ready to go by the time I get back downstairs. We're going exploring."

* * *

John made his way through the heart of Townsville, using the well-worn dirt paths.

Walking through the town brought back a flood of memories from when he had lived there previously with his wife and daughters, when things were better, and not bleak and grim as they were currently.

John turned his dark eyes to the overcast sky and gave a small sigh.

 _I wish you were here Eugene; you always saw the best in this godforsaken town. I always believed otherwise._ The professor thought inwardly.

He made a sharp left turn into a small alleyway. Squeezing though, he found himself on another street that was slightly isolated form the others. He stopped just a few feet away from a well-built, gray stone building that was standing alone on its side of the street, apart from any other shops or houses.

 _The Morgue._

Staring up at the ominous gray building in front of him, John let out a miserable groan.

 _Let's get this over with._ He thought, as he made his way toward the front doors that housed the dead.

* * *

"Ah, Professor Utonium, glad you could make it here today under such difficult… circumstances."

John was greeted by a middle aged man wearing an apron with several dark stains on it. He cringed inwardly as he leaned forward to shake the other man's hand, he had a feeling he knew _exactly_ what the stains were.

"I came as soon as I was informed." John responded, slightly on edge in the chilly environment. "Can you tell me where he is?"

"I can do better, I'll show you, but I should warn you: you're in for quite the shock." The morgue attendant informed him.

"What do you mean?" John asked, nearly taking a step back from the overwhelming anxiety.

"Well, I've been doing this for close to twenty years now, and in all my time serving as this morgue's keeper… I have never seen anything quite so vicious as this."

A cold sweat broke out on John's forehead. Mojo had hinted that the death of his brother and Farmer Lumpkins had been a violent one last night before he had left, but he hadn't said just how bad it really was.

"Take me to him please." He stated firmly.

The morgue keeper nodded and led the aging man down a hallway to a set of sliding double doors, where the cold seemed to emanate from. Pushing them open, he let the tall man into the holding room.

The weak, gray light that the grime covered windows let in did little to brighten the dull, white tiled room. Pushed off to the sides, were tables that held the medical equipment necessary to prep a body, and the walls were lined with latched doors that housed newly deceased corpses, but that was not what John was interested in.

John stared dead ahead of him. There, in the middle of the room, was a metal table, covered by a red stained sheet. John could not see what was underneath the tarp, however he could see the outline of that was underneath and knew instantly that it was a body.

"Is… is that him?" John managed to crock.

"Aye sir," The morgue keeper confirmed. John took a step toward the table before he felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.

"Sir, I wouldn't. Its… bad, very bad, and this is coming from someone who works with the dead all the time. I really insist that you-"

"I haven't seen my brother in close to fifteen years." John murmured brokenly, as he turned around to face the morgue keeper. "I missed out on my little brother's life after I left. I missed his birthdays, his engagement to Jennifer Keane… I barely spoke to him at all after my family and I left. I wasn't there for him in the last couple years of his life. The least I can do now is being there for him in death."

With that, the professor shrugged off the hand, and walked to the center of the room, standing by the side of the sheet covered table. Sucking in a deep breath, as a feeble means to calm his nerves, he gripped the stained sheet in one hand and pulled it off the top part of the body.

The scream of horror that escaped the professor bounced off the walls of the tiled room, as he jerked around to vomit on the floor beside him.

The face of the corpse, or what was left of it, was not his brother's. The flesh was almost completely torn off and mangled. Bone was clearly visible and protruded out from the open gashes of torn flesh. The outer layers of skin were reduced to nothing but a bloody red pulp and the eyes were but shredded jelly in their sockets.

 _No._ The professor thought in horror as he risked another glance at the mangled face, _No, this_ can't _be Eugene, it_ can't _be!_

"I wouldn't pull back the blanket any father professor." Came the voice of the morgue keeper, "The rest of him isn't in much better condition."

"What, WHO could have done this to him?" John asked flabbergasted, unable to take his eyes off of what used to be his younger brother.

"Well truthfully, I don't even know." Was the response, as the morgue keeper made his way over to stand beside the professor. "I've seen some grisly things in my time, but this takes the cake." He paused. "Worse part is, I can't really even distinguish if it was a man or an animal that did this, however I'm leaning toward animal."

"What do you mean?" John asked, face while as a sheet.

"Personally I don't think that animals are capable of this type of cruelty." The other man responded. "But I also don't think that a man did this either."

He led John over to one of the shelfs lining the walls of the storage room and pulled something off of it, handing it to him. "This is a mould of a wolf's mouth and teeth. I use animal moulds to determine if a person has died at the jaws of a predator. Now I'm not saying that it was a wolf but-"

"You mean my brother was mauled to death by wolfs?" John interrupted looking at the set of sharp looking teeth in his hands.

"No, I can't say that for certain." The morgue keeper countered. "But when I was examining your brother's body, trying to find the cause of death, I _did_ come across what appeared to be bite marks. Come have a look." He guested back to the table.

Carefully lifting what was left of Eugene's right arm, he pointed to his forearm. "See this here? These are puncture marks left by teeth. _Their bite marks._ He's got them _everywhere_ , his arms, throat, and face even. Most of them are on his torso along with several deep gashes that I can't fully explain. Claws could have done it, but nothing about this makes any sense to me."

He pointed to the mould of the wolf's jaws that John was holding. "I've compared the bite marks to every predatory animal that we have around Townsville, and while the wolf was the closest match, I have _never_ seen wolfs big enough, and with large enough teeth to put holes in a man like the ones on Eugene."

John leaned in to look at the bite marks on Eugene's arm again and compared them to the wolf jaws he was holding. The morgue keeper was correct, they looked similar to the bite marks, but the puncture wounds on Eugene were almost twice as big as the teeth on the wolf mould. Something was off, John could sense it.

The scientist in him taking over, John boldly stepped closer to the remains of the body. "What about the gashes then? What's wrong with them?" he asked.

"Alongside the jaw moulds, I have claw moulds of all of the predatory animals around Townsville as well. I compared the gashes to wolf claw moulds to see if they matched and…"

"What was the result?" Asked John

"They didn't match, at all. Far too deep and sharp to be done by a wolf's claw, it bears a hefty similarity to _bear_ claws, but we don't have many of them around these parts." The morgue keeper shrugged.

"But it's always a possibility." John finished.

"Of course it's a possibility. Just not a very likely one." The other man agreed. "But then the teeth don't match up. Wolf teeth are far sharper then bears teeth are, and the bear teeth don't match up to the bite marks."

"So then what do you think that this is?" John asked. "I've been told that other people from the town have died in similar fashions, and you've seen all the bodies, so you must have some opinion as to what's doing this."

"I do, but none of them are good, or logical for that matter." The keeper agreed, nodding his head.

"I could just as easily write off all of these deaths as freak accidents. A sick person running around the woods at night, killing innocent people and making it look like an animal has done it, or perhaps the work of a rogue bear roaming around Townsville, but no one would believe me if I did. Who would go through that much trouble to kill someone? That's why I'm leaning toward it being an animal. And if there was a bear wandering close to town, people would have seen it by now. Besides, the only bears that are remotely close to here are deep in the forest, and Eugene was found just outside of the woods, so that makes no sense to me."

The keeper paused before continuing. "I've said it before: I can't match up any of the wounds on your brother, or any of the other victims for that matter, to any of the common predators around these parts, but the injuries have been telling me a few things."

John leaned forward interested, as did the keeper. The other man looked around the room for a moment before he spoke in a low tone.

"Whatever is behind the murders, it's _big_. Smart too. The wounds it causes are fatal and deadly, and it's got enough strength to overpower and dismember a person, Lumpkin's corpse proved that. Poor bastard had his shooting arm ripped clean off."

The keeper let a small shudder escape him and John's eyes grew wide at the new piece of information. The keeper continued. "It knows how to take down a human; goes straight for vital arteries every time. Doesn't really matter in the end though, the victims usually end up bleeding out from the _lesser_ wounds before this thing can really go at them."

The keeper sighed. "I don't know if this is some type of new predator or not, but my best guess is that it's some type of large animal doing this. I've tried to draw what I think it may be, but I'm missing so much information that I can really only briefly describe it."

He then began to gesture with his hands as he talked. "This thing is clearly massive. Judging from the puncture and gash wounds, I'd say it's roughly between 6' or 7' feet in total height. It would have to be, in order to have teeth and claws that big. We're looking at this thing, whatever it is, being the same size as a small grizzly, and that concerns me greatly."

The keeper continued. "It can match the power of a bear but it has a mouth similar to that of a wolf. I personally have never heard of an animal like that. Have you?" he asked John.

"I can't say I have." John responded truthfully. "I can't even think of any animals that might be remotely similar to what you're describing."

"Well unless we have some sort of deranged mutant hybrid running around the woods at night, your guess is as good as mine." The keeper shrugged. "We even had Sir. Jojo come have a look at the bodies, to see if he could determine what would cause such damage, but he couldn't even figure it out."

"Yes, he mentioned that last night at dinner." John mumbled as he looked down sadly at the bloody corpse that was once his brother. "He also asked for my help to see if we could figure it out together but…"

"Could you?" The keeper asked suddenly, "Please, any help would be appreciated, the authorities are doing their best, but they can't figure it out. No one knows what this is, but we want to try and stop it before it strikes again!"

"I'm not sure…" John stuttered, backing up slowly. "I have my family here with me, and I do need to head back to Citysville at some point, my work is there you see… and besides, I am a scientist granted, but I'm not a _forensic_ scientist…"

"Please, even if it's only for a few extra days." The keeper begged. "I'm at my wits end. I can't figure out what's behind all of the murders, but maybe you and Sir. Jojo could. I could give you the deceased records and full lab space here for you to work. Please Professor…"

The keeper paused and glanced up at John for a moment before he spoke.

"Help us."

John sighed, the fight leaving him. Who was he to turn away when these people clearly needed him? He wasn't sure what kind of help that he could provide to the town, but at least he could say that he tried.

Citysville could wait; they weren't facing an epidemic like Townsville was.

"I will discuss it with my family tonight at dinner, but I will defiantly extend my visit for a few more days." John told the exhausted looking man across from him, before glancing down at the body of Eugene. "I own Eugene that much."

John set the jaw mould down on one of the medical tables. "In the meantime, I was told that my brother's possessions were here?"

"Right here." The keeper passed him a bag, which John opened. "These were the items that were found on him when his body was retrieved. Truthfully, he was mangled so badly, that the people who found him had to use the items there to determine if it really was him or not."

Reaching into the bag, John pulled out three different items. The first, he recognised instantly as Eugene's wallet. The second item was a locket of sorts that, when John opened it, revelled a picture of Jennifer Keane. He inwardly made a note to return that to her later when he saw her.

The third item however left him confused.

The third item was a medallion with a strange engraving on it. A full moon with what looked to be a large wolf howling at it had been carefully engraved onto the surface of the pendant. As John examined it farther, he noticed that the medallion was made of pure silver.

"I don't know what this is." John admitted as he held up the medallion for the morgue keeper to see. "He didn't have this when I left. Is it some sort of talisman?"

"Ay sir that looks like it's from that new gypsy camp that's outside of town, just before the forest." The keeper nodded at the medallion, "Came here a few months ago and set up camp. Superstitious lot they are. Odd bunch, but harmless in my eyes."

"Eugene wasn't a superstitious person though." John frowned, rubbing the silver face of the medallion. "That's the one thing we had in common: we liked having proof to back up an argument. He also wasn't much of a gypsy fan either, last time I checked."

"So then why do you suppose that he was down there talking with them?" The keeper questioned.

John only shook his head, more confused than before.

"I have no idea."

As he was turning to leave with his brother's items, the keeper called out to him one last time. What he had to say chilled John to his very core.

"Professor, one more thing: When I was examining the bite marks on Eugene… I found _two_ different sets of teeth, possibly a third. Whatever _it_ is, it's big and it doesn't hunt alone."

* * *

John breathed a sigh of relief as he exited the morgue and took in a deep breath of fresh air into his lungs.

After he had carefully wrapped up his brother's belongings and had signed the necessary papers to start preparing the funeral and burial arraignments, he had bid the morgue keeper farewell and promptly left, wanting nothing more than to be free of that god-awful place.

 _And to try and get the memory of his brother's corpse out of his mind._

John let out a tired sigh. He could _really_ use a drink at the moment.

He shook his head roughly at the thought. He had more important things to do at the moment. Such as finding Jennifer and giving her fiancé's belongings back to her. God knows she probably needed them more then he himself did.

"You saw him, didn't you?"

John nearly jumped out of his skin at the question, and whirled around, only to come face to face with non-other than Jennifer Keane herself.

Her sky blue eyes were bloodshot. Obviously she had received the news of Eugene's passing, and had clearly not taken well to it.

"I… well, yes." John stuttered pathetically, unable to form a complete sentence.

"I've been trying to see him since last night when I heard about... him." The shorter woman paused, her gaze dropping to rest on her hands. "But they won't let me see him. Saying that it's too horrific for me to witness."

He eyes welled up with un-shed tears. "But I just want to see him… I want to see him one las time!"

"Jennifer, no. Please trust me when I say that… They're right, it's very bad. I wish I hadn't seen it myself. You don't want to remember him the way he is now." John bent down to her level, placing his hands on her shoulders in a comforting manner.

"Actually, I'm glad that you're here, I have something to give to you." John said suddenly, as he reached into the bag of Eugene's positions to pull out the locket, which he placed in her awaiting palms.

With shaking hands, Jennifer opened the locket. The un-shed tears that had been in her eyes before were released upon seeing the picture of her.

"It was found on his body." John murmured quietly as he pulled her in for a hug. "He cared… so much about you. You meant the world to him, and I know you would have had a happy life together."

"John." Jennifer murmured quietly against the taller man's chest. "Yes?" John asked, releasing the smaller woman and meeting her gaze.

The tears in Jennifer's blue eyes dried up and a cold, determined look came into them. She was quiet for a moment before she spoke.

"You find the thing that killed him. Promise me John. Promise me that you will find out what did this to him."

John held her intense gaze for a few moments longer before he nodded solemnly.

"I promise." He told her firmly.

"I won't leave Townsville until I find out what killed him. You have my word."

* * *

 **Townsville Center**

Buttercup, Blossom and Bubbles moved through the heart of Townsville side by side, the skirts of their dresses swishing softly as they moved through streets that they hadn't walked since they were five years old.

So far as the girls could remember, the town hadn't changed much in their absence. Most of the shops were still in their original locations, and not many new buildings had been built in the years that they were gone.

"Townsville hasn't changed." Bubbles stated with a small smile. "Maybe that's a good thing." She added as an afterthought.

Blossom nodded distractedly, as she peered into the windows of a bookstore. "I suppose so." She agreed, turning back to face her two younger sisters before she paused.

"Where is grandpa?" She asked confused.

Buttercup swept the area with her unnatural green eyes. Sure enough, their tiny guardian had disappeared from sight. The Mayor had accompanied the girls into town, intent on showing them off to the rest of the townspeople and taking them on a tour.

"He must have gotten distracted along the way and wandered off." Buttercup shrugged, taking her sisters hands and pulling them along. "Don't worry, he's the Mayor, he'll turn up eventually, or someone will take him back to the manor. Everybody knows he's half senile anyways."

Pulling her pink and blue clad sisters along, the raven haired girl continued walking though the small town, intent on doing some more exploring before they had to head home, before a familiar voice caused the triplets to stop in their tracks.

"Oi ladies!" a deep, gravely, accented voice called out to the sisters.

Buttercup turned her head and barely managed to stifle a groan of annoyance.

There, standing on the other side of the street they were on, were the three goons from the Jojo Estate the previous night. One tall, one stout and bulky and the other one short.

 _The Amoeba Bro's_ , Buttercup thought inwardly with a growl as she reached out for Bubbles's hand, pulling her youngest sister close to her. She didn't know what it was about the three discoloured skinned men, but something about them sent off warning bells in her head. She just couldn't put her finger on what.

The three men quickly crossed the street toward them, their discoloured skin rippling as they did so, and Buttercup felt Blossom stiffen slightly beside her. Clearly Blossom felt the same way as she did. Rose eyes met bright green ones and Buttercup nodded in response.

Neither Blossom nor Bubbles were very confrontational. That was Buttercup's job. In that quick glance that Blossom had sent her, Buttercup could tell that like her, Blossom did not want to be in the company of the three strange men any longer then she needed to be.

In that brief glance, Blossom had silently asked Buttercup to get all three of them out of there, should the men try anything. It wasn't that neither she nor Bubbles could do it themselves, all three sisters were proud, confident woman who were more than capable of holding their own; however, Buttercup was the most vocal about it.

Buttercup gave her red haired sister's shoulder a light squeeze, assuring her that she wouldn't let the lackeys try anything.

"'low girls," The stout middle man of the group, Bossman, Buttercup remembered, greeted them once they had reached the other side of the street. "We trust you three made it home last night?"

"Yes, thank you." Blossom responded curtly. "My sisters and I are just out exploring with our grandfather, who appears to have disappeared for the moment, he should be back shortly."

Bossman's eyes lit up slightly at the news, he turned to give each of his companions a small grin before he turned his attention back on the three beauties in front of him.

"Gramps left you three all alone? Too bad, there are some _strange_ people living around here. It's not always safe."

"Yeah," The tall man, Slim, agreed. "There are some people here who are even stranger then us!"

At that comment Bossman turned around to snarl harshly at thin discoloured man on his right. "Shut 'yer trap Slim, before I shut it for you!" he snapped.

He looked back at the girls, and for a moment Buttercup could swear that she saw panic flash across his face. But just as quickly as she had seen it, it was gone.

"Sorry 'bout that girls. He's a bit of an idiot." Bossman chuckled as he pulled a cigar out of his trench coat pocket and lit it, the smell of burning tobacco filling the air and making the Untonium sisters cringe slightly.

"But really, such gorgeous ladies such as yourselves shouldn't be out here alone, expesualy close to dark." He grumbled the last part as he exhaled blue smoke.

"It's mid-afternoon." Bubbles gently pointed out. "It's not exactly what I would call late sir."

"But it's also late November and it will start snowing here soon." Bossman countered the blonde girl with a slight grin. "That and the days are much shorter. Night will be here in a few hours."

Bubbles nodded to herself, she couldn't argue with that. It was drawing close to four in the afternoon and already the daylight was starting to turn into the early stages of night.

"Was there something that you three needed?" Buttercup cut in roughly, patience drawing thin. "What are _you_ three doing in town, might I ask?"

Bossman only chuckled at the fiery green clad girl. "We're just out running some errands for Sir. Jojo. He and his sons barely come to town as it is, so that leaves us to do all of the running around."

He paused, drawing his arm up to look at the time on his wrist watch, a grin stretching at an odd angle across his discoloured cheeks. "We have some time before we have to head back though…"

"Why is your skin like that?" Buttercup interrupted, her green orbs slits, locking in on the strange trio.

Bossman looked up, confused. "Whatta mean?" He grumbled,

"Your skin is discoloured, and it looks almost… Rubbery. Why is it like that?" Buttercup clarified. "Are you ill? If so, keep your distance, I don't want to get sick, nor do my sisters." She snapped, hoping that the three lackeys would take the hint and back off.

Bossman only chuckled as he moved forward another step. Putting out his cigar; he stood in front of Buttercup. "You're full of spice are you?" his grin became a slightly sinister smirk as he reached across to toy with some of Blossom's long red hair what was in her normal up-do. "Like I said before, we have some time before we head back to the estate… maybe we can show you why…"

Before Buttercup could move to strangle the life out of the man in front of her, the sound of heavy horse hooves approaching the six was heard, and another familiar voice spoke up, only this voice was rough, and low.

"What in Hell's name do you think you're doing Bossman."

Bossman's eyes widened and he immediately removed his hand from Blossom's hair and backed away from the girls, to stare up at the person who had spoken to him.

Sitting atop of a massive chestnut coloured horse was none other than Brick Jojo. His fiery red hair was braided down his back and he was wearing casual riding clothes that were various shades of red. His mouth was set in a scowl, almost snarl, and his crimson red eyes showed nothing but hate, as he stared down at his three lackeys, namely Bossman.

"A-ah, young master," Bossman stuttered as Slim and Junior began to shuffle about nervously by his sides. "What are you doing here sir? You _never_ come down to the village."

"I was bored and needed something to do, so I decided to take a ride into town." Brick snapped irritably, his unnatural red eyes making contact with Blossom's rose coloured one for a brief moment before they hardened and returned to Bossman's shaking form.

"and I'm glad I did. What do I see when I come here?: You and your cronies making unwanted advances on the Untonium sisters. _Again._ It's vile, and apparently, you don't listen every well. I thought I made myself clear last night about what would happen if I caught the three of you speaking to them." he hissed to them.

"We heard you the first time sir, we was just having a friendly little chat with them…"

"Friendly my ass." Buttercup muttered under her breath; however Brick seemed to hear her.

"You three." He snarled at the Amoeba Bro's, as he turned around in the saddle and pointed up the road and out of Townsville, "get back to the estate; I'll deal with you when I get back there."

The Amobea Bro's didn't move, too stunned by the appearance of Brick to budge. However, that only served to make the red eyed male even more furious.

"Did I stutter? I meant _NOW!"_ Brick almost roared at them. This seemed to snap the discoloured men out of their petrified trance, and they scuttled past the large chestnut horse and back up the path leading out of Townsville.

Bossman turned briefly to give the sisters a parting wave. "Sorry ladies, but we'll have to save that conversation for next time. We'll see you around." And with a smug grin he turned and followed Slim and Junior away from the town.

"Not if I can help it." Brick growled under his breath as he watched the three of them leave. Once he was satisfied with the distance that the trio had made from the town, he turned his attention back to the three females beside him.

"Are you three alright?" He asked them calmly, feeling his previous temper ebbing away.

"Fine, thank you Brick." Blossom allowed a small smile at the taller male. "Thank you for stepping in, they were getting rather aggressive, and Buttercup looked as if she was about to strangle them." She chuckled.

"What is with those three?" Buttercup finally released the snarl that she had kept bottled up, letting go of Bubbles's hand. "Who the hell do they think they are?"

"Don't mind them, they're just idiots." Brick retorted. "Idiots that will be dealt with properly, I can assure you that much."

"So, you don't come down to the village much?" Bubbles asked the red cladded man, coming forward to rub the massive horse's nose, smiling softly at chestnut stallion.

Brick stiffened slightly in the saddle at the question, before he shifted the reins to his right hand, and lent down to give his horse a light pat on the neck.

"No." He answered. "People around here don't really like my brother's or me much."

"And why would that be?" Blossom asked; meeting his blood red orbs again.

Brick looked down at her, a slight grin on his face as he replied, "It's a long story, but I guess the main reason is because we never came into town much to begin with, and I suppose we just intimidate too many people here."

Blossom frowned slightly at the answer and opened her mouth to ask another before Brick interrupted.

"Actually, it's nice that I've run into the three of you. I was wondering if you would like to join myself and my brothers for lunch at our estate in a few days. Give you some time to settle in."

"Is Butch going to be there?" Buttercup asked

Brick smirked, "Yes, all three of us would be."

"Then no." Buttercup huffed, turning on her heel, in an attempt to walk back down the street and away from the red haired man.

"Buttercup wait!" Blossom let a small laugh escape her as he tugged her obsidian haired sister back toward the small group. "Why don't we go? It'll be nice to have lunch with them, and we can do some catching up with the boys, after all, we were childhood friends."

"Yes, but do I want to deal with Butch while I'm there?" Buttercup muttered.

"I'll handle Butch." Brick shook his head. "He was just very excited to see you again. He can't really control himself when he's around a pretty girl, but you've already figured that out."

"Yeah, I noticed." Buttercup grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Do you have other horses there?" Bubbles asked, her bright baby blue eyes widening excitedly as she reached up to rub the stallions ears, the horse looking completely content from the treatment he was receiving from the blonde girl.

Brick leaned forward to meet her gaze and nodded, "We have many more horses, we have a whole stable filled with them."

Bubbles's face lit up the news. She turned excitedly to Buttercup. "Oh please can we go? Please Buttercup, please?" she begged.

Buttercup groaned. She was a sucker for her baby sister and she knew it. All Bubbles had to do was flashed her baby blue's and plead, and Buttercup would crack and give into her sisters demands. She just couldn't say no to her blonde sister.

"… Fine," Buttercup sighed, "Why not, let's go. If only so Bubbles can see the horses."

Bubbles let out a tiny shriek of joy and both Blossom and Buttercup cracked a smile.

Once again, Blossom felt eyes on her form, and looked up to notice Brick staring intently at her again. He looked as if he was deep in thought, and opened his mouth as if he was about to ask something of her, before a high-pitched excited voice stopped him.

"Girls, girls! Oh there you are! Why did you wander off on me? I was looking everywhere for you! Oh, and look who I found on the way!"

The sisters turned around to see their tiny grandfather dragging a much taller man behind him.

"Daddy!" Bubbles let out a happy chirp, as she moved away from the horse and toward the approaching males, reaching forward to give her father a hug, which he gratefully retuned.

"We didn't wander off Granddad, _you_ did." Buttercup rolled her eyes, however a smile was present on her face, as she strode forward to also give her father a hug.

Blossom turned her attention away from Brick and also moved to give both her grandfather and father a hug as well.

"How was it?" she whispered in her father's ear as she leaned in to give him a hug.

The professor sighed, as he wrapped his arms around his eldest. "Bad." He muttered. "I have a lot to explain to you, your sisters and your mother. We're going to be staying here for longer than I thought."

Blossom frowned and pulled away, giving her father a nod; letting him know that she understood.

Her father then glanced behind her and his face paled upon seeing Brick seated atop of his horse.

"Ah Brick, nice to see you again. How are you on this fine day?" he questioned the red clad man.

Brick sent him a smirk. "I'm doing well professor, thanks for asking, how are you?"

John stifled a sigh. "I've been better, I won't lie. I've just gotten back from the morgue…" he turned to face his daughters. "The funeral for your Uncle will be in roughly three days' time, the morgue still needs a bit of time to… prep the body."

"Oh…" Blossom murmured unhappily. Turning to face Brick she offered the tall male an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Brick, but I think that we will have to delay your lunch offer for a later date."

Brick only shook his head, "Don't worry about it, it's understandable. My brother's and I may stop by to… offer our condolences."

The professor jerked his head up at that, before he managed a weak smile. "Oh, yes, that would be very kind of you Brick…" He trailed off slightly to look at his red haired daughter. "What was this I heard about lunch arrangements?"

"Brick invited us to the estate to have lunch with him and his brothers." Blossom explained. "But I think that we'll have to push the date back a little."

She turned back around to face Brick again. "It's Thursday today, so how about Monday or Tuesday of next week?" she asked him.

Brick scrunched up his face in thought. "What day is that?" he questioned.

"December 1st I believe."

The colour in Brick's face seemed to drain as quickly responded "We… can't do that day. Any other day after that we are available."

"So, how about Tuesday then?" Blossom asked. "Yes, Tuesday." Brick nodded in conformation. "As long as the good professor is alright with that?" he asked, slightly narrowing his blood red eyes at the cringing professor, daring him to say otherwise.

"I… well, yes, that's fine with me… unless Mojo has a problem with it…"

"He won't." Brick grinned smugly at the raven haired man. Checking his own wrist watch, he bit back a scoff.

"It seems that I've been here for longer than I expected. I need to be heading back. It was nice seeing you all again, girls, Professor, Mayor." He nodded at each as he addressed them. Then turning his horse around and flashing Blossom one last grin, he rode out of town at a brisk canter, leaving the Utonium family behind.

All five family members stared after him, watching his figure get smaller and smaller until they couldn't see him at all. Finally the mayor broke the silence.

"Well that's odd. He and his brothers _never_ come into town."

* * *

 **Bellum Manor**

Dinner at the Bellum manor that evening was a quiet affair.

John hardly spoke during the large dinner that Nanny had cooked and only responded in quick one word sentences.

After dinner, John sent all three of his daughters upstairs, saying that he had some issues that he needed to discuss with his wife and in-laws.

Dutifully, Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles exited the room. Blossom and Bubbles were just about to head up the grand staircase before Buttercup tugged them back down and led them back toward the dining room, stopping short of the door and hiding around a column, out of sight from the other adults.

"What are you doing?" Blossom hissed at her younger sister. "We're going to get into trouble if we're caught!"

"Hush." Buttercup responded in a whisper, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder. "I want to hear what happened to Uncle, besides, I do this all the time." She finished with a grin.

Voices began to float out of the dining room and the sisters quieted down so they could hear what was being said.

"… Saw the body." They could make out their father say. "… Absolutely horrific. Wouldn't let Jennifer see him. He was torn apart, completely mangled…"

Bubbles's eyes widened and she put a hand to her mouth as it dropped open from the shock of hearing her father say that.

"… Don't know what it was that did it. …Keeper thinks that it was a large animal, but he's not sure what kind. … Whatever did it, there might be more than one … Mojo's had a look at the bodies already. …Asked me if I wanted to work with him, see if we can find out what's doing this."

"Are you going to work with him?" Sara's voice cut in.

"I think I'm going to have to." Replied their father. "Mojo is the only one with a suitable laboratory around these parts. It's in his basement… don't really want to, but I don't have much of a choice."

There was a long, drawn out pause before he continued.

"I met with Jennifer outside the morgue. …Made me promise that I would find out what'd done this to Eugene. …Be damned if I say no to that poor woman… Need to find out what did this to him. …Get some sort of peace of mind… Can't get the sight of his corpse put of my mind…"

Buttercup frowned at the quiet murmurers of her father, and rubbed a hand against her neck. She still wasn't too sure of what had happened to her favourite uncle. Apparently, no one did, and that concerned her.

"… Found something of his today… Haven't seen it before. …Apparently it's some sort of Gypsy talisman to ward off bad spirits and the like. …Wasn't a superstitious person though. …Do you know anything about this Mayor?"

"… Gypsy's? … Yes, a large camp came to town a month or two ago… Just outside of the forest… Said they could stay as long as they didn't cause trouble… Didn't know that Eugene was talking to them though." The girls heard their grandfather respond.

"… Maybe wise to pay them a visit after the funeral and see if that pendant holds a certain meaning to them." Their grandmother chimed in softly as an after though.

"… Good idea, I'll do that after the funeral… Must speak with Mojo conserving what is going on here as well… Do that after the funeral as well… Possibly before if I get the chance."

There was another long pause before the girl's father spoke, this time solely addressing his wife.

"… Sara my love, we'll have to stay here longer then I thought, I'm sorry… Write to Citysville telling them about my absence… I'm sorry…"

"John don't… I understand… Girls will too… It'll be good for them to have a change of scenery for a bit."

"… It's not the scenery that I'm worried about here…"

Buttercup heaved a sigh. Backing up, she turned away from the room where her relatives were talking, and made her way up the stairs toward the dark second floor, Blossom and Bubbles following close behind.

"I don't understand… What kind of animal could have done that to Uncle Eugene?" Bubbles whispered as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Beats me. That's why dad is apparently going to work with Sir. Jojo to figure it out." Blossom responded.

"Doesn't matter, remember, we weren't supposed to hear that." Buttercup interrupted. "We can't let them know that we heard any of it. They're probably going to tell us at breakfast tomorrow at some point, so remember to act surprised. Don't ask about it." She told them as she reached her room.

"Why did you want to listen in on them so badly?" Bubbles asked quietly as she began to open the door to her own room. "It's about more than just to find out about what happened to Uncle Eugene, isn't it?"

Blossom paused, turning to face her raven haired sister curiously, wanting to know the answer herself.

Buttercup was silent for a moment, trying to find the words to put her thoughts into sentences that her sisters would understand. Finally she spoke.

"Ever since we got here, dad's been acting weird. He's skittish and jumpy, and he looked absolutely terrified at the Jojo's last night, we all saw that right?"

Bubbles and Blossom nodded, silently agreeing with her.

"He was dead-set against coming to this place before. He said something about a 'sickness' cursing this place, and he and Mojo apparently fought over something _big_ before dad left town. Something isn't adding up. _They're hiding something from us."_

Buttercups eyes were slits as she glared at her sisters.

"I don't know what exactly it is that they're so desperate to keep a secret from us. But believe me when I say: I'm going to find out."

And with that, she opened the door to her room and silently slipped inside, locking it behind her.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

Brick glared down from his spot on the mansion's balcony, overlooking the overrun estate in front of him, high above the ground below.

Currently he was watching three oddly shaped men go about their chores on the ground. It was close to midnight, and normally his lackeys would have been in bed by now, but after the stunt that they had pulled in town on the Utonium sister's, he had made sure to give them task after task as a form of punishment for their disobedience.

He was so focused on watching them that he barely noticed a dark, muscular figure make his way to stand beside him on the balcony.

 _Almost._

"Butch." Brick calmly greeted his sibling, not taking his blood red eyes off the figures below him.

"Let me have them."

Brick tore his smoldering gaze from the Amoeba Bros to give his brother a puzzled expression.

"Beg your pardon?" He asked confused, not completely sure what his brother was asking.

"Let me have them Brick, I'll tear their goddamn throats out." Butch snarled, baring a set of sharp looking canines at the figures on the ground below.

"Ah, so you heard about that." Brick murmured, returning to his previous stance in order to stare back down at the lackeys.

"I heard that Bossman was fronting on Buttercup, that's all I need to know." Butch growled, his deep green eyes darkening until they were almost black. "She's _mine_ ; I thought I made that clear to them. Evidently not clear enough…" The muscles in his powerful arms clenched, and his grip tightened on the stone railing separating them from the edge of the roof.

Brick let out a sinister chuckle as he reached across to slap Butch on the shoulder.

"Patience Butch, _patience._ You'll get your chance soon enough. All _three_ of uswill. I'm getting pretty tired of their insubordination myself."

"Besides, if we're going to punish them… let's do it properly." Brick grinned, pointing upwards into the dark, clear sky above them.

Butch followed his brother's finger pointing up into the sky, and let a smirk slowly spread across his chiselled features.

"Good point." He concluded, his forest green eyes holding nothing but malice in them. "I can wait for a few more days."

Chuckling sadistically, Butch made his way off the balcony and back into the mansion through a set of double doors, leaving Brick alone.

Brick continued to watch the Amoeba Bros run about aimlessly for a while, gripping the stone railing between his large, strong hands.

Clenching and unclenching the railing, he grit his teeth as his mind drifted back to what he had witnessed earlier: Those three abominations far too close to his and his siblings territory, Bossman placing his hands on Blossom… The thought alone was enough to make the red head's blood boil…

 _Craaaaccck._

The splintering crunch of stone brought Brick back to reality. Looking down he realized that he was holding the balcony's stone railing in a death grip, clenching it so tightly his knuckles were turning white from the pressure.

Releasing the railing, he looked back down at it only to notice that it now had a massive crack in its stone surface from where he had been holding it previously.

Brick smirked, wiping his hands on his pants and turning away from the balcony, moving to head back inside the mansion.

His true strength was coming back. It always came back around this time, along with certain… Violent urges that he couldn't quite control.

An age-old feeling swept over him. _He needed to break loose, to run free, to HUNT._

Brick shook his head, warding off the feelings for now.

 _Soon._ He told himself. Soon he would be able to let _it_ out once again and have some fun. Then he would be pacified for a while, before the cycle started over again.

Brick exited the balcony threw the set of heavy double doors, shutting them gently behind him, chuckling softly to himself.

Outside in the dark sky above the estate, the moon emitted a gentle glow.

Only a sliver of it was missing.

* * *

 _Sunday, November 30_ _th_ _1829, Eugene Utonium's funeral, Townsville Graveyard_

Buttercup watched as her uncle's casket was slowly lowered into the deep hole in the ground beside her grandparent's gravestones on her father's side.

She was wearing a simple, floor-length, black dress, and her long, ebony hair was neat for once, as it fell down her back in a dark waterfall, thanks to her mother furiously brushing at it. Her sisters were wearing similar clothes as part of the dress code for the funeral, as well as her parents and grandparents.

She watched quietly as her mother attempted to console Miss. Keane, the shorter woman crying softly into her mother's curly red hair, while her father threw a customary handful of dirt intro the hole, after her uncle's coffin had been safely placed into the ground.

A fair number of people had come to the funeral, as Eugene had been a popular man amongst the townsfolk. Buttercup watched in silence as her father thanked the modest sized group for coming to bid his brother a final farewell on such a cold November day.

Finally, John ushered the crowd back toward the church, in order to allow them to share any last words or memories about Eugene, and to also allow the grave-diggers to finish covering up the grave un-disturbed.

As he passed Buttercup, he shot her and her sisters a weak smile as he grasped Sara's hand in his own, leading his wife and the still sobbing Miss. Keane back toward the church to escape from the biting cold.

In that brief moment though, Buttercup could see just how broken her father truly was.

He had held out strong during the initial burial, but Buttercup could see the wear and tear that happening within him. He had lost his only remaining family member growing up, as both of his parents had passed away from Leukemia when both he and Eugene had been young boys. The bond that he had shared with Eugene had been a deep one, as both brothers had looked after each other from a young age and on.

Now, Eugene was no longer, and Buttercup couldn't ever remember seeing her father look so hollow before.

She felt a tugging on her hand, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Buttercup looked down to see Blossom tugging on her and Bubbles's hands, silently pulling them after their parents. Buttercup sighed; she really didn't want to sit in the church for the next few hours listening to people cry over her uncle. It was hard enough watching Miss. Keane sob into her hands, and both of her parents so close to tears themselves, she didn't want to witness anyone else cry as well.

As if sensing Buttercup's hesitation, Blossom turned to her middle sister, her light red hair billowing out in the cold winter wind.

"I don't want to do this anymore then you." Blossom assured her, "But daddy needs us. He's already so close to breaking. Let's do it for him."

Buttercup only nodded in response, and in sync, the three sisters moved side by side toward the church after their family, unaware of the three sets of eyes watching them as they did so.

* * *

Hours later into the reception, and Buttercup felt completely drained.

She had sat on the uncomfortable wooden church pew with her sisters for several hours, listening to people she didn't know, drone on and on about all of the fun times and exciting adventures that they had shared with her uncle.

Buttercup didn't mind the stories, in fact many were quite entertaining, however, the person who was telling the tale always seemed to break down crying at some point in the story, and that alone made it almost _unbearable_ for the emerald orbed girl to sit though.

Judging from the expressions on the rest her family's faces, who were sitting in the pew in front of them, she could tell that they felt roughly the same.

Finally, the funeral party moved into the churches reception hall where an equally depressing lunch was served.

Buttercup could barely enjoy the bland food in front of her, as the unfamiliar townsfolk kept coming up to her and her sisters, apologizing for their loss, and pulling them into tight hugs.

She wasn't a fan of all of the depressing attention that she and her siblings were receiving, however, she remained polite, as not to cause a seen and upset her already disturbed father.

The old wooden doors on the other side of the room opened suddenly with a loud _bang,_ that resonated though the aging reception hall _,_ letting in a gust of freezing wind, causing Buttercup to turn on the spot that she was standing, whacking the most recent man who had been sending his condolences to her, in the face with her long dark hair.

There in the door frame, stood the Jojo clan, with Mojo at the front.

Brick, Butch and Boomer stood behind their smaller father, looking massive and powerful compared to him. For the first time, Buttercup was able to get a closer look at them in the daylight.

The closer she inspected them, the more she realized that they really looked _nothing_ like Mojo at all. The boys were easily over six feet, while Mojo himself barely passed five foot two. Not to mention that appearance wise, they hardly had any similarities to him at all.

Buttercup didn't dwell too much on that fact. People said the same thing about her and her sisters, but at least they bore some resemblance to their parents, while the boys were the polar opposites of their father.

At this point, the other guests had taken notice of the family, and the hall fell quiet aside from some whispers here and there.

Mojo paid them no mind as he strode into the reception hall as if he himself owned the church, his sons close behind him.

"Ah John!" The shorter man exclaimed in his heavily accented voice, coming forward to shake the raven haired man's hand solemnly.

"I apologize for my tardiness; I only found out a few hours ago that the funeral was today, I'm sorry to have missed the burial. Please accept my sincere condolences to you and your family."

John only held up a hand. "It's alright Mojo, no need to apologise. But thank you for your condolences, I appreciate it."

"Actually…" John bent down to the ape-like man's level, "There is something that I wish to discuss with you in privet, if that's alright with you."

Mojo nodded understandingly, "Of course, follow me." He replied as he led John through the reception hall and down a set of stairs off to the side of the room, leading to the basement.

Buttercup watched her father leave, only to feel a light tap on her shoulder from behind. She turned around expecting to find another person about to send their condolences to her, only to find herself staring at a barrel chest.

Tilting her head up, she found herself under the smoldering forest gaze of Butch Jojo. The lean, obsidian haired man offered her a small grin, before his face fell into a frown as he pushed something into her arms.

Looking down, Buttercup saw that he had given her a large bouquet of little yellow flowers. Plucking one out of the bunch, she inspected it carefully, before giving it a small sniff. Glancing up, she offered him a small grin.

"Are these buttercups?" She asked with a small laugh, causing Butch to smirk. "Yep." He grinned before his face fell back into a frown. "I have no idea how to comfort a girl at a funeral. I don't go to many, if any at all, so… I hope flowers are alright." He rubbed at the right side of his face tiredly.

Buttercup gave him a simple nod, tucking the bright flowers under her arm. "These are fine, thank you. You really didn't have to get me anything though." She hesitated before adding, "I'm surprised to see you here; I was under the impression that you and your brother's don't come to town much."

"We don't." Butch confirmed. "But our dad knew your uncle from the professor, so he thought it would be polite to come and… pay our respects." He finished in a mutter.

"Well, thank you." Buttercup finished allowing him a tiny smile. "It's been a long day for my sisters and I, and I just really want to go home now." She admitted.

Butch sent her a tired grin. "It's been a long day for me too Sunshine."

Buttercup frowned, and was about to snap at him for calling her that ridiculous name, before she stopped suddenly. Leaning forward she took a close look at powerful males face.

He looked _terrible._

His dark hair looked more wild than usual, and his skin was slightly pale, as if he was sick. The skin on his face was pulled tight and gaunt, and his eyes were clouded over. There were dark bags underneath his eyes, and his jaws grinded together ever so subtlety as he clenched and uncleaned his fists, his movements slow, as if he was in pain.

"Are you feeling alright?" Buttercup asked with a frown. That seemed to snap him out of whatever state he was in only to shake his head.

"I'm fine." He grumbled. "Don't worry about it."

"Butch." A voice called.

Out of her peripheral vison, Buttercup could see Brick and Boomer approaching along with Blossom and Bubbles. Buttercup silently observed that both of the brothers, like Butch, looked slightly more haggard than usual.

Brick's red hair was tangled and slightly ratty at the ends, his blood red eyes were even more pronounced by the dark shadows under his eyes, and his movements were stiff, as if his muscles had completely seized up.

Boomer, she noted, didn't look much better. He, like his two older brothers, had horrible bags under his eyes and his skin was unnaturally pale. Every step he took seemed to cause he some sort of discomfort, and he seemed slightly hunched over.

Butch waved his hand at his approaching siblings in acknowledgment as they stopped to stand beside him.

"It's nice to see you again Boomer!" Bubbles spoke gently to the lean, blonde male. "Thank you so much for the flowers, really they're lovely, I didn't think that you could get lilies this late in the year."

Buttercup looked over at her youngest sister, only to see that she was also carrying a large arrange of white lilies, while Blossom appeared to be holding an equally large bouquet of red roses.

Boomer managed a weak smile, as he gently cracked his back, straightening to stand at his full height. "I have my sources." He winked at her "I just wanted to… apologize about your uncle. "

Brick only nodded in agreement. "It's a shame, really. I can't begin to tell you how sorry we are." He rubbed at the bags under his eyes, as if trying to get rid of them.

"Brick, are you sure that you're alright?" Blossom asked, taking a closer look at the intimidating male. "You look awful. Have the three of you been sleeping enough?"

Brick shook off her concerns. "Don't worry about it pinky. We'll be fine in a day or so. It's just been slightly chaotic at the house right now."

He sighed, blowing out air though his nostrils, before turning his scorching gaze on her rose coloured orbs. "Anyways, how are you holding up?'

Blossom shrugged, gently petting the roses she held in her arms. "I won't lie. It's been a tough day, but I think I can speak for all of us when we say that we're more worried about our father."

"Yeah, it would be hard on anyone, losing their last family member here like that." Boomer muttered. "Ripped apart… horrid way to go.'

Bubbles frowned. "How would you know that? You weren't even here for the burial…"

"If I recall correctly, I heard it was a closed casket." Butch interrupted with a sick smirk, his eyes pointed at the floor. "Usually when a casket is closed, it means the body has either been burned or mangled beyond recognition. And since we know for a fact that your uncle wasn't in a fire, I'm going to assume the latter took place."

Bubbles's face took on a grim look and turned her head away, causing Buttercup to scowl at the dark male. "Uncalled for." She grumbled. Butch winced slightly at her tone and mumbled a small 'sorry' under his breath.

"Don't mind him, he's not himself today." Brick snapped, gently smacking his taller brother on the back of the head, causing the agitated boy to give off a waning growl.

Suddenly, his muscular frame jerked violently, almost like a twitch, catching Butch off guard. A surprised hiss escaped his clenched teeth.

"Shit…" he snarled under his breath. He inhaled several times to try and compose himself, however they were deep and uneven.

Butch flicked a panicked gaze around the room, trying to determine if anyone else had witnessed the twitch, but the room had started to clear out when they had arrived, leaving a few uninterested people off to the sides.

"What was that?" Buttercup asked, confusion written across her face.

"It's a tic." Butch muttered, running a hand though his jet black hair. "It just happens sometimes and I can't control it." He cast a look over at Brick and Boomer.

"I think we need to find dad and get out of here though, I think we've overstayed our welcome." He gestured to the almost empty hall behind them.

"I'll get him." Boomer volunteered quickly. Shooting Bubbles a small smile, he disappeared down the hallway where Mojo and the professor had gone into.

Buttercup groaned. Her energy was almost gone. What she needed more than anything was to go back to the manor and sleep for a few hours. Anything to escape the strange events of today.

Butch looked up suddenly and took a hold of Buttercups arm, steering her over into a corner of the reception hall and away from her sisters, despite her protests.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she hissed at him furiously, bright green eyes flashing dangerously.

"Listen Buttercup, I'm going to give you some advice, and it's in your best interest to listen to it." Butch murmured lowly. He tilted her chin up, meeting his gaze with hers before he spoke.

"Stay out of the woods."

Buttercup blinked, more confused than ever before. "What…"

"I mean it. _Stay out of the woods. Especially at night"_ Butch growled. "What happened to your uncle has happened here before, and I would really hate it if that happened to you too." His gaze was harsh and intense as his dark forest orbs burned into her bright green ones, before they suddenly softened.

Very, very gently, he reached up to tuck a piece of raven hair behind her ear, almost in a trance like state. Buttercup flinched at the action but let him, unsure of what he was going to do next.

The sound of his name being called once again by his brothers seemed to snap Butch out of it. Shaking his head, he backed up, allowing her out of the corner.

He shot her an apologetic look. "I have to go. Be good, alright? Just remember what I said."

And with that, he turned and walked out of the church, following behind Brick and Boomer, Mojo had reappeared and was following close behind his sons.

He turned at the last second and called out to John, "So I, Mojo Jojo shall be seeing you in my lab on Wednesday, correct?"

A beaten down professor also emerged from the dark hallway that he had been in with Mojo earlier.

"Yes." He confirmed, "Wednesday. I trust you'll have all of the medical paperwork needed to get started?"

"Yes, yes, do not worry John; I will have all of it and more." Mojo almost seemed to grin as he spoke, however it vanished as soon as it had appeared. "I will see you then, in the meantime, take care." And with that, the short man pulled the old, wooden door shut behind him.

Quietly, Bubbles made her way over to stand beside Buttercup, who had not moved from the corner that Butch had dragged her into.

"What did Butch want?" Bubbles whispered into her ear.

"He warned me to stay out of the woods at night." Buttercup relayed to her. "Said that this has happened before and he doesn't want to see me get torn apart essentially."

"Well that's… Caring off him." Bubbles finally got out. "and that's pretty good advice too I should add."

"No, it's not that." Buttercup muttered annoyed, as she set her bouquet down on a nearby table. "It's the way he said it. I think he knows something."

"What could he know?" Bubbles asked. "First you think that our parents are hiding something, and now you think that Butch knows about what's happening to the town?"

"It would make sense though." Buttercup countered, "The Jojo family has always lived here."

Bubbles only sighed. "True, but it doesn't always mean that they know everything that happens in town." She pointed out

"Do you not believe me?" Buttercup asked her youngest sister seriously.

Bubbles shook her head, her soft blue eyes fixated on her long blonde hair that was braided back into a fishtail braid.

"Of course I believe you Butters, you've always been the most observant of us. If you think that something suspicious is going on around here then I believe you. All I'm saying is gather some more evidence before you go pointing fingers at people." She chuckled.

"We are also meeting the boys for lunch next week. Maybe you can ask Butch what he meant then." Bubbles added, smiling kindly at her taller sister.

Buttercup nodded. "Good point." She agreed. She sighed and rubbed her arms. "I don't know, maybe I'm just over thinking this. The funeral has got me all stressed out. I think I just need to relax for a while."

Bubbles wrapped her in a hug. "Don't we all." She sighed before taking the darker girl by the hand.

"Come on, I think I heard mum calling for us. We're going home."

* * *

"So allow me to clarify." Mojo said slowly, as he stood in front of John in the dim basement of the church.

"You would like to take me up on my offer to work with me again, in order to solve what's happening to the civilians of Townsville?"

"Yes." John breathed. "I promised Jennifer I wouldn't leave until I found out what happened to Eugene. I owe her that much."

"Very noble of you." Mojo stated approvingly. "and very smart too. I'm sure that together we will be able to figure out what is behind these heinous murders."

"As do I." John murmured quietly as he glanced about the basement.

Snapping his fingers rapidly, John reached into his coat pocket to pull out the small talisman that had been found on Eugene's body.

"I was also meaning to ask you before I forget; do you happen to know the significance of this by any chance?"

Mojo almost recoiled at the sight of the silver talisman. "Where did you get that?" he asked loudly.

John frowned, confused at Mojo's reaction. "It was found on Eugene's body… I was told that it most likely came from a traveling gypsy camp that's parked outside of the forest. I was going to go there tomorrow to see if any of them could tell me what it means, and why he had it in the first place."

"Those gypsy's are… an interesting bunch." Mojo finally managed to get out, his eyes still locked on the talisman. "It's all just a bunch of witch-craft and sorcery there; they are not practical people like you and me John… I don't know what help they will be to you."

"Still though, I think a visit to them might be wise, at least I'll be able to find out why Eugene was there in the first place." John concluded, tucking the talisman back into his coat pocket.

Mojo frowned, stepping forward slightly ready to argue with John again before they were interrupted.

"Dad! We need to go, Butch is getting worse, and he's starting to tic- Oh, hello professor."

Boomer paused upon seeing John in the room with his father, hesitantly hanging in the doorframe of the basement entrance.

John breathed a sigh of relief. _This_ brother was the alright one. Despite the fact that the cobalt clad young man held an air of politeness to him, he still managed to terrify John, just not as badly as his older brothers did.

"Is it starting already? Goodness, what about you my boy? How are you feeling?" Mojo responded almost urgently.

"My back is really bad right now, and my muscles ache, but I'll live." Boomer responded, casting a slightly concerned look at John.

"And Brick?" Mojo questioned his youngest.

"He's in the same boat as me." Boomer muttered. "But he's slightly worse."

"Right then." Mojo concluded, turning his attention back to John, he offered the taller man an apologetic look.

"So sorry John, but I'm afraid that we are going to have to cut this short. How about you come by the estate sometime next week, say Wednesday perhaps, and we can get to work on the deceased's cases. I can grab the necessary documents from the morgue and inform the police that we are going to assist them in their investigation."

"Well, certainly, if you're going to do that then that would be most helpful…" John stammered. "I'm sorry, but what exactly is wrong with your sons?" he questioned.

"Oh, they're not feeling well at all today I'm afraid. They've come down with a bit of a fever, and have developed the aches." Mojo supplied, moving forward to usher his son back up the basement steps, him following close behind.

"Well if they weren't feeling well, they didn't need to come." John said gently. "Wouldn't want them to overdo themselves now."

"On the contrary, they were quite insistent on coming to the funeral." Mojo chuckled as he climbed the stairs after his youngest son. "They got your daughters some lovely bouquets, and wished to give it to them personally."

"O-oh." John blanked. "That's… very kind… Thank you…"

They reached the top of the stairs and Mojo rounded up his two other boys and shepherded them out of the church.

"So I Mojo Jojo, will see you Wednesday, correct?" He clarified.

"Yes." John replied, utterly exhausted by the day's events. "and you'll have everything ready?"

Mojo hid a smirk. _Oh yes, he would have everything ready. This would keep the good professor busy for a while._

He quickly got rid of the grin as he replied solemnly. "Yes of course. Take care."

And he shut the old church doors behind him.

* * *

Mojo scowled has he led his sons back toward their waiting carriage.

Butch was muttering curses under his breath as his body shook with small spasms as he climbed in to the large carriage, Brick and Boomer following after him quietly.

Mojo himself got in last, and tapped on the roof, signaling to the driver to take them back to the estate.

He eyed his sons carefully before he spoke.

"The professor showed me an interesting little trinket that was found on his brother's body." He began slowly.

"So?" Butch panted, shutting his eyes as a another powerful spasm ran though his body.

"So, it was a _pure silver_ talisman. I'm sure you'd be very interested to know what was engraved on said talisman."

Brick understood what his father was playing however.

"How could those half-breed gypsy's possibly know anything?" He snapped angrily.

"All I know is that they know too much." Mojo replied calmly.

"Which is why, tomorrow night, I think that it's in your best interest to pay our little friends a visit."

Boomer lifted his head at that. "Yeah?" He asked.

Mojo nodded. "The professor will be going there tomorrow night as well, it would truly be a shame to have him figure out our little secret, and then you'd never be able to see those girls again." He grinned savagely.

Brick only rolled his eyes. He closed his blood red orbs and slowly let a twisted smile come across his handsome features.

"Hear that boys? We're going to have some fun tomorrow night."

* * *

 **Authors note:** _Jesus H. Christ, this chapter is close to 13 thousand words and takes up over 30 pages in Word alone. I've never written this much in my entire life._

 _I'd like to apologize and say that I'm sorry at it took so long to get this out, so I made it extra-long in order to compensate._

 _The plot thickens… Just what are these mysterious creatures attacking Townsville? And who is going to be on the chopping block next? You probably already know… ;)_

 _I'd like to point out that Buttercup is the most observant of her sisters. She's able to tell when somebody is not telling the truth, and she's able to understand when a person is using double meanings. A skill that will most likely help her in later chapters..._

 _Feel free to PM with any questions that you may have! I'll do my best to answer them! Reviews are always welcome so long as they are polite and constructive!_

 _Thank you so much for reading! Have a great day!_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	5. Body count

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _I would once again like to post a quick warning at the beginning of this chapter. There is a fair amount of violence and bloodshed in this particular entry.._

 _If you are easily offended by such material, please feel free to skip over it. Just be aware that it's in the middle of the chapter._

 _I may end up having to change the rating of Lycan after this chapter, as things get progressively darker from here on out. I don't think that it'll be enough to warrant an M rating; however I'm going to start putting a warring at the beginning of all chapters after this one, cautioning that this fiction is going to be rated a_ _ **HIGH T**_ _._

 _ **Big, big, big thank you to Carriedreamer for providing me with some absolutely amazing advice when I was completely stuck on this chapter and had no clue what direction to take! She's a wonderful girl and an absolutely amazing author! Her story 'As Time Goes By' is a work of art! Thanks Carrie! This is all yours darlin'!**_

 _Any themes similar to The Wolfman do not belong to me, and belong to its rightful owners._

 _That being said, The Powerpuff Girls don't belong to me either, and as always, they have human appendages._

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Body count**

Bubbles furrowed her brow in concentration.

Gently, she picked up her white pawn and moved it in front one space, smirking in satisfaction as she did so.

Blossom, who was seated across from her, only grinned in return. Moving her black pawn, she hopped over Bubbles's white one, claiming it as her own.

"Check-mate!" The red haired girl chuckled as she collected Bubbles's white pawn, adding it to her own steadily growing collection.

Bubbles scowled playfully at her eldest sister, as she stared as her dwindling chess pawns.

"I forfeit." The blonde girl let out a sigh as she ran a hand over her neatly braided fishtail. "I can't make any more moves without you taking any more of my pieces, so I'm going to save myself the trouble and just stop now."

The sisters were in the manors spacious living room, playing with their grandparent's ornate chess board, Buttercup was stretched out across the room on one of the soft white couches, her eyes shut lightly as she attempted to rest.

"What's the end score Buttercup?" Bubbles asked her darker sister, turning to face her direction.

"Seven to one." Buttercup responded without opening her eyes. "Gotta admit, you two have been at it for the past… three hours now? That takes some dedication."

The raven haired girl cracked open a bright green eye to gather the time from the large grandfather clock that slowly ticked away in the corner of the living room, before shutting it again.

"Are you sure you don't want to play?" Blossom asked her middle sister with a tiny grin. "You've just been lying there for the past couple of hours, why don't you challenge me?"

"I'll pass." Buttercup responded curtly, a hint of a smile spreading across her relaxed features. "You know how I am with concentration games. Now if it was _sports_ you were challenging me at, well then I'd beat you no problem."

"Well there's no question there." Blossom chuckled, "You're a natural." She paused, turning to stare out one of the massive living room windows that showed a dark, cloudy sky outside. Little flakes of white were falling from the clouds above, slowly turning the ground below white.

"Does dad have to go to that gypsy camp in this type of weather?" she muttered, "It's starting to snow and it's very cold tonight."

"He seemed pretty set on going." Buttercup's voice floated over from her spot on the couch. "Just let him do what he needs to do, he's grieving and he wants answers. Apparently these gypsy's have some."

"Still though, Blossom has a point." Bubbles said gently. "It's starting to snow out there and it _is_ pretty dark. Wouldn't it be wiser to go tomorrow morning?"

Buttercup sighed. "You don't think that mum hasn't already told him this? He knows and he wants to go tonight. He's set on it. You know what he's like when he's made up his mind."

Bubbles nodded, still slightly uncertain. Buttercup seemed to sense her youngest sister's hesitation as she lightly added: "Well, it may be cold, but at least it's not completely dark out tonight." She nodded to the window.

There, though a part in the dark clouds above, the shape of the bright full moon stared back at the sisters, glowing ominously.

* * *

"John really, tonight? Why can't you go the camp in the morning? It's freezing out, and from what I've heard, these gypsy's are not always the friendliest of people."

Sara perused her husband as he walked through the manor, gathering the necessary items he needed for his visit to the gypsy camp.

John reached the front door leading out of the house before he turned to face his voluptuous wife, and placed a pacifying hand on her shoulder.

"Sara my darling, I don't want to put this off for any longer. The sooner I see these people the quicker I'll get answers. Hopefully they'll be able to tell me about why Eugene was there, and what is happening around town. The sooner I get these answers, the sooner we'll be able to go home to Citysville. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"John I…" Sara paused, wrapping her red nightgown around herself tightly. "Darling… Forgive me for saying this, call it a woman's intuition, but I don't think that it's going to be that easy."

"What do you mean?" John asked his wife gently, brushing back some of her long red hair and tucking it behind her ear.

Sara was quiet for a moment before she sucked in a small breath.

"Sedusa and I were good friend's when we were younger. After all, we were in the same class at school together for many years." Sara began slowly. John's eyes widened at the mention of the other woman's name. He remained silent, waiting for his wife to continue.

"… She came from a distinctly European back-ground." Sara went on, her shoulders slumping as she talked. "I had assumed it to be German, or maybe Italian, but as it turned out, almost all of her immediate family members were gypsies."

She stopped to collect her thoughts for a moment before proceeding.

"She never liked talking about them, even to me, and I was her closest friend at the time. Whenever I asked about them, she would simply tell me that she didn't get along with the majority of them, and that apparently, they had marked her as _cursed."_

At that John frowned, confused. "Cursed?" He echoed.

Sara nodded. "By her own family no less. They were… Extremely superstitious people from what I gathered. I never actually met them myself, but Sedusa never made me want to."

"But why did they brand her as _cursed?"_ John asked, shocked by the new information. "From what I've heard, gypsies are usually tight-knit families. It doesn't sound like them to just cast out one of their own."

Sara shrugged gently, putting her face in her palms. "Apparently, her Grandmother was some type of seer, and when Sedusa was born, she 'saw' something that she didn't like. So as a result, Sedusa was marked as cursed and essentially became an outcast within her own family."

She glanced around the entrance room of the manor. "They… gave her a very difficult time there. I think that's why she spent most of her time here at the manor with me when we were children. It provided her with a means of escape when she needed it."

Sara turned her deep green eyes back on her husband's dark ones. "So I'm warning you now: don't expect it to be as easy as your making it sound." She cautioned him.

"Daring, do you think… do you possibly think that these gypsies are the same ones that made up Sedusa's family?' John asked her seriously.

Sara only shook her head. "I can't say for sure. I don't even know if they are the same ones or not. It could be a completely different group here now; after all, these ones are new to town. I don't know what happened to Sedusa's family after she left."

She fixed him with a stern gaze. "If they are though, it would be best _not_ to mention Sedusa's name around the camp."

"Why ever not?" John asked mystified.

"Because after she married Mojo, they disowned her." Sara clarified. "She broke every single rule they had, and went against her family's wishes when she accepted his proposal. They don't see her as their kin anymore, and if you want their help, it would be wise not to mention that you know her _or_ Mojo for that matter."

"I… I'll remember that darling, thank you for telling me." John murmured, leaning forward to press a kiss to Sara's tan cheek, before turning around to open the front door.

"Ah good, my horse is ready." He muttered as he stepped outside the manor. Turning briefly, the tall man shot his wife a small smile.

"I love you." He told Sara gently, "I'll be back in an hour or so, I don't plan on staying there for too long. Tell the girls not to wait up for me."

And with that, John shut the solid door behind him, and made his way down the steps toward his awaiting horse. He quickly mounted his stead and road down the pathway leading off the Bellum's property, and off into the night.

Sara watched her husband though one of the front room windows until she couldn't see him anymore. She let out a loud sigh though her nose and turned back around, away from the window.

She was just about to call out he daughters names, before the sound of tiny feet moving though the manor at a fast pace caught her attention.

She listened as the noises got closer to her, and identified the sound as her tiny father running toward her at top speed. Not a moment later, the white, mustached man rounded the corner coming from the kitchen and came charging toward her at full speed.

"Saaaarrrrraaaaa!" He called to her, as he came to a screeching halt in front of his only child.

"Yes Papa? What is it?" she asked, crouching down to her father's level to meet his gaze.

"Did John leave already?" the small man asked.

"Yes," Sara responded, "He just left, why?"

"Well it's just that I remembered something pretty important, that just so happens to be connected to the murders happening around town, but I forget to mention it to him!"

"Well I…" Sara tried to get out, however she was cut off by her elderly father running around her to rip open the heavy wooden door to peer off into the dark night.

"Dang it, he's gone." The tiny man grumbled. "Well, I'm going after him!" he declared loudly, as he ran toward the coat rack off to the side of the door to grab his fluffy winter coat.

"Wait just a second papa." Sara stated, moving to stand in-between her father and the front door.

"You can't honestly think that I'm going to let my eighty-four year old father, who is partly senile, ride into a gypsy camp at night, during the beginnings of a snowstorm, do you?" she questioned, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well… Yes?" The mayor answered slowly.

"NO." Sara stated firmly, frowning at the tiny man.

"Sara honey please! It's of the upmost importance that John hears this! I have to tell him before I forget again!" The mayor whined at his only daughter.

"Can't it wait until morning?' Sara asked with a groan as she rubbed her temples, feeling the beginnings of a migraine coming on.

"You let John ride off to the camp." The mayor pointed out with a huff.

"Daddy. John is six foot two and in his mid-forties. Not many people try and attack him. _You_ on the other hand, barely pass four foot six, are in your eighties, have a strange obsession with pickles, and are too friendly for your own good sometimes." Sara shot back, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"I'll let you have that one." The mayor sent his daughter a beaming smile from underneath his white mustache. "But I'm serious sweetheart, what I have to tell John is of the upmost importance! He has to hear this! It may help him find out what's happening here!"

Sara once again let out a frustrated sigh though her nose. She knew there was no use arguing with her elderly father once he had his mind set on something. He reminded her of her husband in that way.

"…Fine." Se relented. "I want you to find him, tell him what it is you want to tell him, and come straight back here. Understood?"

"Geeze sweetheart, bossy, bossy." The mayor giggled as he pulled on his fluffy coat. "I see where Blossom gets it from now."

"I taught her well." Sara mumbled as she stepped to the side to allow her father access to the front door.

She knelt down to his level and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before pulling the little man into a tight hug. "I love you papa, stay safe please."

"Oh Sara, you worry too much." The mayor chuckled as he took his daughters face in his hands.

"I'll be back soon, I promise."

* * *

 **Gypsy campgrounds**

Tents.

Rows and rows of elaborately decorated tents was all John could see in the large, open clearing set before the dark forest, that the gypsy's had claimed as their own.

John gently urged his horse father into the campsite, moving slowly, as to not run into any of the numerous gypsy's that were running about the sea of tents.

Out of the corner of his gaze, he noticed that he had attracted the attention of many on-lookers. Some of the looks he was receiving from the inhabitants were far from friendly however. John quickly made up his mind that he was going to leave the camp-grounds as soon as he possibly could, after he got some answers.

He dismounted his horse and lead the large creature though the sea of tents, looking for someone who could possibly explain the strange medallion that was found in his brother's possession.

Weaving in and out of the tents, he came to a large opening in the center of the camp. A massive bonfire was roaring in the middle of the clearing, with several burly looking men sitting around it, drinking their ale contently.

"Ah, excuse me?" John asked quietly as he approached the bonfire. The quiet voice caused one of the men to turn around and give John a hard look.

"Yes? What do you want?" He asked gruffly, taking another swig of his ale.

"Well, I was hoping one of you gentleman could possibly help me with something." John informed the other man politely.

The burly gypsy man looked John up and down, sizing him up. After a quick inspection, he stood up and made his way over to John.

"You're from the town." He grumbled. "Most people stay away from us. Why have you come here and what do you want?" He rumbled in a low accent.

"Well you see; my brother was murdered roughly a week ago. I found this among his possessions; it was on him when he died…" John pulled the medallion from his coat pocket and held it up in front of the other man's face, allowing him to get a closer look at it.

The other man said nothing as he eyed the silver pendent, carefully examining the engravings on its surface. Finally, he took a large swig of his ale and spat on the grass, muttering curses under his breath. He looked up again and gave John an almost pitying look.

"Mercy." The gypsy muttered. "It's no wonder your brother passed. It's an Oman. That pendant is to ward away, and protect the wearer from evil spirits. It appears he received it too late however."

"Well now what's that supposed to mean?" John asked in a whisper.

"It means that your brother was involved with malevolent forces." Rumbled the man, "Very malevolent indeed."

He traced over the pendant before straitening and fixing John with a stern glare.

"I'm not the one you should be asking about that thing. There are some women here in the camp that could help you find answers you seek though."

"Really? In that case could you point them out to me?" John asked, pleased that he would finally get some answers.

The gypsy took John by the shoulders and spun him around in the opposite direction. Pointing over John's shoulder, he drew John's attention over to a large dark red tent with elegant back markings on it, that was slightly elevated off the ground by a wooden platform.

"There." The man muttered. "The woman in there will help you. But I will warn you in advance: They are strange creatures, even among us. They have unpredictable tempers. It's best to keep a level head when talking to them." He cautioned before drawing away from John, and moving back to his spot by the bonfire.

John only nodded. "Thank you." He muttered before he led his horse toward the tent.

* * *

 _Run… Run faster._

 _Fallen tree, no leap over, yes made it._

 _Good._

 _Good night, moon so full._

 _Beautiful._

 _Sky is clear for now. Good._

 _Snow is going to keep falling soon. Must hurry._

 _Are they? Where are…_

 _No there they are._

 _I still run faster._

 _Sniff, sniff_

 _What is that?_

 _Light, sound… what is…_

 _Camp… YES YES! There! We must go there!_

 _I want to HUNT._

 _ **I WANT BLOOD.**_

 _ **KILL. HUNT. BLOOD. FIGHT.**_

 _Blood… kill… hunt… tear…_

 _Good night for a hunt._

 _Best one yet._

"AWWRRRRROOOOOOOOOOO."

* * *

John poked his head though the tent flap.

"Hello?" He asked, peering around the surprisingly spacious tent, which was lit by several dim lanterns, before stepping in fully. "I'm sorry to come by unannounced…"

"And just who the hell do you think you are?"

John whirled around at the sound of the rough feminine voice.

There in the shadows of the right-hand corner of the tent, sat a young woman with short black hair that was shaved close to her scalp at the sides. She was dressed in a mixture of dark green and black robes, and her ominous dark green eyes were almost black as she glowered at the intruder.

"Easy Brute." came another voice from the center of the tent. This one was clearer then the first but still held a gruff edge to it.

"This townsman is probably just lost. I wouldn't put it past them, they are _quite_ dull."

The voice concluded with a harsh, dry laugh. John turned to face the middle of the dimly lit tent, only to discover a second woman emerging out of the gloom at the back, before coming to stand underneath one of the lanterns, allowing the professor to get a better look at her.

She had long, dark auburn hair, much like his daughter Blossom; however hers was wild and had several braids running though the long tresses. Her eyes seemed to flash between a light brown, and a cold, deep red in the low light of the tent. She, like the first woman was dressed in dark robes with splashes of red in them. She smirked unkindly in the man in front of her.

"Yes it's strange to see a townsman so far away from the comforts of pathetic little _Townsville."_

A third voice sneered. This one was high and shrill, with a nasty hiss. It startled John again, as he turned his head to the back left-hand corner of the tent.

A final woman appeared out of the gloom and sneered at him. Her long blonde hair tied up into two long pigtails, and her blue eyes pierced into John's as he stared back at her. She, much like her companions, was wearing robes consisting of back and blue, however hers were cut lower than the others.

She caught his gaze and smirked at him, sending him a flirtatious wink, and gave him a teasing shake of her body, casing the now red faced professor to shift his attention away from the blonde and back toward the auburn haired female.

"Stop teasing him Brat. Lord knows you're going to send the old man into cardiac arrest."

The woman with the short black hair; Brute as he recalled, snapped as she moved from behind him to stand beside her red-clad companion in the light, as did the blonde, allowing the older man to see them all clearly. He gaped at them for a moment before he spoke.

"I-I'm sorry for intruding, i-it's just that…" he trailed off.

"Well? Speak up man." Snapped Brute irritably.

"Well, it's just that… You three remind me of my daughters… From certain angles, that is." The professor covered.

"Well they must be beautiful then, if they compare to us." The blond; Brat, huffed as she examined her nails that looked more like claws to the older man.

"Oh yes, very beautiful indeed." He muttered before moving forward slowly toward the three harpies, causing Brute's lips to stretch into an unpleasant grin.

"That sounds almost like a compliment. A back-handed compliment, but a compliment none the less."

The statement caused the two other women to chuckle deviously. The professor cringed inwardly. This meeting was not happening how he hoped it would.

"My coming here was not an accident ladies, I can assure you that much." He began slowly.

"Then pray tell: Why _did_ you come here?" The lady with the braided auburn hair drawled, rolling her eyes, as if the man's presences board her.

"Well, I think it is safe to assume since the three of you live just outside of Townsville that you are aware of the murders that have been happening around town?"

The three women froze upon hearing that.

"We have _nothing_ to do with that." Hissed Brat coldly. "You hear me? _NOTHING."_

"I never said that you did!" The professor quickly put his hands up and cessed his movements toward the trio. "What would make you think that?"

"The people from town are rather boorish." The red female muttered as she crossed her arms.

"When the killing first started happening, your people turned on us. They blamed us for the murders. They couldn't prove it obviously, seeing how we hadn't done anything, but the blatant mistrust is still there. We weren't sure if you were one of those people."

She explained a frown present on her face. "I'm truly very sorry to hear that." John nodded his head to her. "Miss…?"

"Berserk."

The auburn woman supplied, a cold grin etched on her harsh features, her seemingly red eyes flashing as she spoke.

"Well, please accept my apologies on behalf of the town. The townsfolk here are good, god-fearing people; they just don't always take too kindly to new people. It doesn't help that some of them are rather superstitious."

"And what are you?" Brute asked, her eyes narrowing to slits.

John paused and let the question sink in for a moment, choosing his response carefully before he replied:

"A man of science."

Brute let out a sound between a snort and a chuckle of amusement.

"Ah yes. We know your kind well enough. Always wanting proof before you move on to your next little project. Tampering with the unthinkable. Messing around with forces that should not be touched… Science does not always hold the answers, _Professor_. There are somethings in this world that are not supposed to be understood."

"How did you know what to call me?" John's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't think that I formally introduced myself to the three of you yet…"

Brute only smirked at his confusion.

"I saw you coming earlier in a vison. It may be hard for you to understand, but there are some among our clan that have certain… gifts. Being a seer is one such talent, and I happen to be one, as with my sisters."

She let out a low chuckled that sounded like a hiss, and mirrored Berserk, crossing her arms over her chest, allowing the sleeves that had previously covered her arms to slide down.

John immediately noticed that her arms were covered in black ink. Intriguing markings decorated her long appendages. John was able to catch a glimpse at some of the more detailed ones before Brute caught him staring, and quickly yanked her sleeves up.

"Pagan." John murmured, catching her hard gaze.

"What." Brute asked dryly.

"Pagan, the markings on your arms, some of them are from Pagan mythology. I studied it back in Citysville. I'm not an expert on it by any means, but I distinctly remember seeing the symbols that are on your arms, in my textbooks. They're hard to forget." John explained.

Brute's posture relaxed slightly.

"Maybe he does know something." She nodded.

"All I know is that they are… in tune with the Earth. Fascinating stuff really. It didn't strike me that you three practiced it."

"It's an occupation." Brat rolled her eyes, flicking one of her long pigtails over her shoulder.

"Brute can "see" things sometimes, but her visions are never clear - I still think that she's high out her mind sniffing incense when she gets them though." Brat giggled, earning a sharp look from Brute.

"I doubt you'd understand it though."

"Actually, I was told about this… Seer ability that some of you seem to possess." John informed the blonde woman.

"I don't really know what to make of it at the moment, but my wife seems to believe in it and she's not overly superstitious herself. She had a friend whose grandmother was apparently one and…" John trialed off, stopping himself, Sara's warning still fresh in his mind.

" _If you want their help, it would be wise not to mention that you know_ heror Mojo _for that matter."_

John sighed heavily. "Never mind." He muttered.

Berserk frowned. "Aw, too bad, it sounding interesting." She whined.

She fixed him with her cold red eyes. "You said you came here for something. What do you need that require our help?"

John nodded, moving forward to stand in front of the trio pf woman, reaching into his pocket as he did so.

"As I've said before, I'm sure you already have heard of the murders in Townsville. Well, my brother was the most recent victim. I promised him fiancé that I wouldn't return to my home in Citysville until I found out what happened to him."

Berserk nodded, giving him the silent go-head to continue his story.

"Well, I paid a visit to the morgue to collect his belongs, and I found something that I've never seen before. I didn't know what it was, but I was told that the people from your camp might be able to help me."

"Show us what it is." Berserk told him bluntly. "and we'll see if we can help you."

"Here," John pulled out the silver medallion from his pocket and held it up for the woman to see. "Does this mean anything to you three?"

The three women were fixated on the silver before them. Suddenly Berserk straightened and her furious red gaze pierced John's soul.

" _Where did you get this?"_ She demanded snarling.

"O-off of my brother's corpus…" John stammered, alarmed by the sudden change. "Aside from that, I know nothing about this, and what it means! I was hoping you three could tell me!"

"This just so happens to belong to _us_ actually." Brat hissed venomously, "It's a family heirloom of sorts. I don't know how your brother managed to get a hold of it, but it's rightfully ours!"

"I don't know how Eugene got a hold of it!" John sputtered. "That's why I'm here! Now could one of you be so kind as to inform me what exactly this thing is?"

Berserk only stared at the pendant, before she took it out of the professor's hand and sat down on the floor, her sisters doing the same. John mirrored their actions, taking a spot on the carpeted floor in front of them.

The auburn woman toyed with the pendant in the palm of her hand for a moment before she took a deep breath and began slowly.

"This belonged to our Aunt. She was given this as a small child by our great-grandmother, the miserable hag. She had abilities similar to ours, only she was a trained seer, and her visions were far stronger."

She rolled the circular silver piece in-between her fingers as she continued.

"She foresaw a great danger in our Aunt's future. One that predicted destruction and misery… and the birth of a monster… One of the most unholy of kinds…"

She paused in her tale, staring at the professor with those cold red eyes.

"You said you are a man of science. I'm going to assume that you push the boundaries of the natural order occasionally. All men of science do at some point. You realize how dangerous unbalancing that order is, don't you?"

John coughed timidly. "I… I used to. Early in my career with my old partner. We were young, and we wanted to prove ourselves as scientist's… But… I…" he hesitated.

"Let's just say that… some very… odd things happened during some of our experiments and I never toyed with that order again. It's there for a reason, I know that now."

John lowered his gaze.

"I still don't know how to explain some of the things that happened during those procedures."

Berserk nodded. "There is a difference between our wold and the supernatural one for a reason. Weather you believe in it or not. The order exists to keep the balance for both. At least you realized that early on."

She lowered her gaze back to the pendant in her hand and stared at it before continuing.

"Our Aunt was given this as a means of protection from these… omens that our great-grandmother saw but because of what her future foretold… she was treated as on outcast. She _hated_ it here."

John froze. The story was starting to sound horrible familiar.

"What was your Aunts name… If you don't mind me asking?"

Berserk exhaled thought her nose.

"Sedusa. Her name was Sedusa."

* * *

 _Run._

 _Camp._

 _People._

 _Fresh meat…_

 _Sink my fangs into…_

 _Hunt._

 _Blood._

 _Kill…_

 _Kill them…_

 _Teach them a lesson._

 _Where?_

 _Ah there they are._

 _Good night for a hunt._

 _Kill… tear…_

 _ **HUNT.**_

 _ **KILL, KILL!**_

 _Run._

 _Run._

 _Run._

"AAAAAWWWWWWWRRRRRRRROOOOOOO!"

* * *

Brat stiffened as the sound of a howl tore through the frosty night air outside the tent. Even though their tent was located near the heart of the gypsy camp site, the howl was loud, echoing all around the campgrounds.

"Berserk." She whispered, "Berserk, they're getting closer now."

"I know." The other woman responded, shifting her gaze to one of the tents walls. "Bastards are getting cocky."

"What the wolfs?" John asked confused, "They do sound quite close don't they?"

Brute shook her head and opened her mouth to say something to him before Berserk shot her a look, causing the darker woman to back down.

"Sure." She grumbled. "Wolfs."

"I…" John started, capturing the attention of the three females again.

"I know your Aunt. Well I mean… I _did_ anyway."

"What?" Berserk asked him.

"That was who I was mentioning earlier… Sedusa. My wife was one of her good friends growing up. They went to school as children. I was told by her not to mention your Aunt around that camp. Apparently she was disowned?" he asked.

Brute nodded, confirming his claims.

"She was disowned after she married the pretentious bastard, what was his name... Jomo, Komo…" she snapped her fingers searching for a name.

"Mojo?" Brat piped up, her attention still focused on the tent wall, squinting at it, as if to try and see though the heavy material.

"That's the one." Brute pointed at him. "Mojo… Yes that didn't blow over well with the rest of the camp at all. Then she went ahead and bore his twisted spawn…"

"Technically we aren't even supposed to speak her name; she's not a part of the clan anymore." Berserk rubbed her chin.

"But we were so young when she left, we barely remember her now. She was odd but she was good to us. I remember that she _always_ had this on though."

She tapped the pendent in her hand, frowning down at it in confusion.

"I don't remember her too much; I was only seven when she left. Brute was six and Brat was four, but I know for a _fact_ that she took this with her when she left." Berserk stated.

Without another word, she reached down her shirt and pulled out the exact same pendant, holding them together for John to compare them.

"This here is its twin. Unfortunately, our family happens to be quite unlucky among our clan, especially so after Grandma-ma made that prediction about our Aunt. When we were born, a second one was made to protect us from the same misfortune that was said to befall our Aunt. I don't know how your brother came into possession of this one, but this pendant's purpose is to protect the wearer from _the beast."_

" _The beast?"_ John echoed mystified. "What is that? The thing that tore apart my brother? The thing that's attacking the town?"

Berserk shrugged, tracing over the picture of the wolf and the moon on the surface of the pendant with her finger.

"It's difficult to say. Moonwalkers are incredibly dangers creatures. I wouldn't dare go near one. Even with the pendant. Though, judging on what you've told us about your brother… I don't think that it works anymore."

"Moonwalker? What is _that?"_ John asked, wrinkling his nose at the unfamiliar term.

Brute smiled coldly at him. "The beast, moonwalker, bane-child, _Lycan…_ The thing has many different names that it goes by, but the one that you're probably most familiar with is…"

" _Werewolf."_

She finished with a rasp, glancing over to stare that the silver medallion that her sister was holding.

"Hahaha!" John let a small laugh escape him, casing all three women to turn their attention back to him, their eye's narrowing.

John took a breath to compose himself, before frowning at the intense look that the women were giving him.

"Come now ladies, let's be practical. You honestly expect me to believe that a mythological creature from children's story books is behind all of this? My goodness you gypsy's are a superstitious lot."

"You said that you had witnessed things in your early experiments that you couldn't explain rationally."

Brat countered, glaring at him.

"Yes, but I also said that I like to have solid proof before I believe in something… out of the ordinary."

John responded, crossing his arms at the blonde woman.

Berserk chucked lowly, her voice taking on a cold hiss.

"Do you realize what tonight is?" She asked him sternly.

"December 1st, why?" John asked.

"No fool, it's the full moon tonight! Of all the nights to come here and ask us these questions, why did you pick tonight?" She snapped at him, standing up.

"Miss, if I may speak, I have no reason to believe in… Werewolves as you put it. What happened to my brother could have very well been a bear attack or just another animal in general…"

"But you don't believe that, do you?" Berserk interrupted. "Why else would you have come here if you didn't?"

John paused, she had a point. Even the morgue keeper, the man who had seen all of the bodies didn't think it was a normal animal that had torn them up. But he didn't want to believe in such things as werewolves. He was a man of science after all. Werewolves were just fictional tales told to children before bed.

"With all due respect. I need proof before I believe in something as far-fetched as that." John repeated firmly.

Another howl cut through the air outside the tent, this one closer than the last, making all of them jump in surprise.

"Well… You want proof? Your about to get some…" Brut rasped lowly, chuckling to herself under her breath.

Berserk muttered curses under her breath as she pushed the medallion back into John's hand and closed his finger's around it.

"Take this. You're going to need all the protection you can get."

"But this belongs to you!" John exclaimed, offering the silver back to her, "I can't take this."

"You need it more than we do. We have the other one. You can return that to us at a later date." Berserk argued as she pushed his hand back toward him, "In the meantime. You need to go."

"But I still have more questions!" John proclaimed as Brute and Brat began to shove him back toward the tent's entrance.

Berserk shot him an almost pitying look as she stared after him.

"I've answered the questions about the pendant's original purpose. I've told you what I can. It's up to you weather or not you listen to what I tell you. For now, head back to your family. Stay safe, and _stay out of the woods._ "

"But I-" John was cut off as the blue and green clad women pushed him out of the tent, almost causing him to fall off of the platform in the haste.

"One more thing professor." Berserk called out to him, causing John to shift his attention back to her.

"The beast will have its day."

And with that, Brute and Brat closed the tent flaps in fount of him.

* * *

John made his way down off the platform more confused than before.

 _Werewolves_. He snorted to himself as he tucked the pendent back into his pocket.

 _They don't exist. Coming here was a waste of time. I knew that the pendent was simply a trinket for the superstitious folk, nothing more._

But then why _did_ Eugene have it on him when he died? What's more, it was originally Sedusa's. How on earth did Eugene come across it? Apparently according to the mayor no one had seen Sedusa for an extended period of time…

Something was off about the whole situation. John could feel it.

"Ah, you there, townsman!"

John jerked his head up at the call he assumed was directed at him. Looking ahead, he saw the same burly gypsy he had spoken to earlier heading towards him.

"Did you find the answers you seek?" he asked John.

John sighed. "No not really. I have more questions than answers. The woman in there told me a bunch of nonsense really. Apparently they think that a monster from children's books is behind all of the trouble that is plaguing Townsville. It's ridiculous."

The other man only shook his head. "They are indeed strange, but they know things. More than they probably should."

He pointed behind him. "There is a tiny man on horseback looking for you. I think he is the Mayor of Townsville…"

"Oh no, what is my father-in-law doing here of all places?" John groaned. "Can you take me to him?"

"Of course, he's right over here, follow me of you will… quickly please." The burly male responded, as he began to head back in the direction that he had come from, John in tow.

* * *

 _Lights…_

 _Camp._

 _People._

 _SO MANY PEOPLE!_

 _Hunt…_

 _Tear…_

 _KILL!_

 _ **HUNT, HUNT, HUNT!**_

 _Person…_

 _KILL HIM!_

 _ **I WANT BLOOD!**_

 _Time to feast._

"AAAWWWWWRRRRROOOOOOOO!"

"AAAHHHHRRGGGG!"

A bellowing roar sliced thought the frosty air followed shortly by an ear piercing shriek of agony.

The entire gypsy camp seemed to freeze in a startled panic at the commotion. No one dared to move or say a word. It was absolutely silent. John was about to ask the gypsy man in front of him what was going on before…

" _IT'S THE DEVIL! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"_

The scream came from a wild eyed young man, who came tearing out from behind a tent in front of John. His eyes were glazed over in a panic, and he was clutching his arm as he ran. He repeated his warning, not slowing down as he flew by John and into the dark of the night.

" _RUN! RUN! IT'S COMING! THE DEVIL IS COMING TO KILL US ALL!"_

A pained shriek came from behind John. Whirling around, he saw a woman dressed in brightly coloured robes standing behind him, trembling. She reached behind with her hand to her neck and back and wiped at them. When she pulled her hand away from her back she looked down at her fingers.

They were drenched in a crimson liquid.

Seeing her hand, the woman's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted dead away, landing on her stomach, and exposing her back to the crowd of horrified onlookers.

John nearly vomited at what he saw.

Her back had deep gouges in it, as if someone had taken a butcher knife and had hacked into her back like it was nothing more than a piece of streak, taking large chunks out of it in the proses. Bone and tendon was visible though the blood gushing wounds.

At that, the camp came back alive.

Screams filled the air, and John leapt out of the way to avoid getting crushed by a sea of panicked gypsy's. Bodies ran in every different direction as an ominous chorus of howls and screams began to fill the air.

The bearded gypsy who had been leading John to the mayor was suddenly in front of him, yanking him though the crowd of wailing people, and in-between a section of tents, forcing them both into a run.

"What the hell is going on here?" John yelled over the noise.

"The beast… It's here." The gypsy hissed. "I must take you to the mayor; you both need to leave while you still can!"

"That… Creature, that _Thing,_ whatever it is, is killing innocent people!" John yelled horrified.

"And it will kill you if you do not leave!" The gypsy yelled back, dragging John into another clearing in the middle of the sea of tents, looking around frantically as they tried to gain their baring's.

Another large bonfire was roaring behind them in the clearing, casting long, ominous shadows around the tents, illuminating the screaming people running around them.

Another man ran past the duo screaming bloody murdered as held the stump of what used to be his left arm, the wound pouring blood everywhere, soaking the snowy patches of grass crimson as he fled.

"May the gods have mercy on us!" Yelled the gypsy as he yanked John out of the clearing, lighting a torch as he did so. "We need to say out of the open! The mayor should still be over this way if he is still where I left him!"

Both men broke into a sprint as they ran blindly though the maze of tents. Screams and howls tore through the air, as well as the sound of gun fire, ricocheting off of trees and the surrounding area.

The man pulled John down into a nearby tent, dropping the handmade torch on the ground outside as he did so.

Rummaging around in the dark of the tent for a moment he pulled something out of a burlap sack and handed it to John. It took the panicked man a moment to realize what he was holding in his hands as he frantically tried to calm his pounding heart.

It was a shotgun.

"I hope you have some experience with that." The gypsy man nodded to the lengthy gun in John's trembling hands.

"You're going to need to use it. Not that it will do much good, if the beast gets a hold of you."

"I haven't fired a gun since I was in my early twenties!" John sputtered as he looked down at the weapon. "That was about twenty some-odd years ago. I _used_ to be a decent shot, but I don't know about that anymore!"

"You're going to have to try." The other man muttered as he pulled out a similar weapon from the sack.

Leaning against the wall of the tent, the other man took in several deep breaths before looking over at John. "Are you read-"Suddenly he paused… eyes winding with terror as he pressed a finger to his lips.

A low rumbling sound filled the air outside of the tent, followed by the sound of heavy steps pacing around the enclosure.

The light of the fallen torch outside illuminated the sides of the tent, allowing both men to see the shadows of people running outside the tent walls. But one shadow prominently stuck out from the rest.

 _The shape couldn't have been human_. John thought to himself horrified. After all, what man paced about on all fours, and had back legs that were bent back in a fashion similar to an animal?

 _No man. No man did._

 _Maybe it's a dog…_ John thought weakly as he clutched the gun tighter. _Just a very large dog._

But he knew in his heart that it wasn't.

 _No breed of dog he knew of was the same mass and size of a bear. Even on all fours. In fact, he wasn't even sure what_ it _was._

The massive shape seemed to pause on the opposite side of the tent where John and the bearded man were leaning against, the light of the fallen torch illuminating the hulking figure, twisting its detentions fearfully.

The thing shuffled outside of the tent, growling and sniffing the air, before it let out a huff, and disappeared impossibly fast.

John and the other man were silent, not darling to breathe for several moments afterwards, the screams of the carnage outside still assaulting their ears.

Finally, the bearded man let out a tiny sigh of relief, and shot John a strained grin.

"I think we're saf-"

A bellowing roar interrupted the gypsy. The man only had time to turn his head toward John and begin to scream "Run!" at him, before massive claws, attached to misshaped hands, tore through the thick fabric that made up the tent walls, startling the other man, and forcing him to drop his riffle.

Quick as lightning, the claws steaked themselves though the still screaming man, and ripped him out though the destroyed tent wall, dragging him off into the chaotic world outside.

"NO!" John yelled, flinging himself outside of the ruined tent, still clutching his riffle in a vice grip.

Panting, he got to his feet and looked around wildly, trying to pin-point the gypsy man who had been helping take him to the mayor.

Out of the coroner of his gaze, he saw the man being dragged away behind a wooden carriage by one of his arms, the claws still wrapped firmly around him. However John still couldn't make out what the thing was though the dark haze and screaming people.

John checked how many bullets were in the chamber of the gun.

 _8, shit._ John groaned to himself as he gritted his teeth, and took off in the direction of where he had seen the man being dragged off too.

There was a sound of shattering glass behind him, and a fresh chorus of screams started. John turned his head around only to witness as a large kerosene lantern that had been placed outside one of the other tents, was knocked over, shattering and setting several tents ablaze.

John watched mortified as the fire jumped from one tent to the next, quickly setting half of the tent city on fire. Dark back smoke began filling the night sky above, slightly blocking out the pale light of the bright full moon, high above the ground.

John bolted away from the spreading blaze and toward where he had seen the monster. Rounding the carriage, he hosted his gun, ready to fire, only to find a moment straight from a nightmare.

The decapitated head of the gypsy man rolled toward John's foot, leaving a dark trail of blood behind it. John lowered his gun in shock and the sight before him.

A massive creature the size of a bear was bending over top of what was left of the gypsy. Large, sharp teeth tore into the body's skin effortlessly, as if it were nothing more than wet paper, spilling blood and innards all along the lightly snowed on grass, staining the ground red.

Large ears on top of the beast's head suddenly pricked forward at the sound of Johns approach. Slowly, the creature lifted its head to glare at the shaking professor, and John felt the blood in his veins turn to ice as he got a clear look at the creature for the first time.

It was a massive, primal beats, covered in coarse, thick dark red fur, almost brown, that shown in the pale light of the moon. The beat had large paws that bore a similarity to human hands that ended with long sharp claws that were coated in blood, causing them to glitter sinisterly in the blazing fire-light behind John. Powerful muscles rippled and flexed with every movement the creature made, as it slowly sat back and on to its haunches, allowing John to get a close look at its face.

John wished that he hadn't.

Large, pointed ears sat atop of its wolfish looking head, cocked toward John, listening to every move he made intently. Its snout and jaws were abnormally long, and its maw was filled with white, blood-stained teeth the size of steak knives, its lips pulled back into a fearsome snarl.

What struck John most about the hulking abnormality in front of him though, was the eyes. Crimson, hate-filled eyes bore into his very being, chilling John to his very core. Its black pupils were nothing more than slits as the thing glared at him, narrowing its rage-filled eyes, causing the red irises to glow against the harsh light the rapidly spreading fire was giving off.

As John took in the sight of the creature before him, one lone thought ran though his mind as he struggled to remember how to lift and fire his riffle.

 _I've seen those eyes before._ John thought to himself as he began to raise his firearm. _There's something about them. Something familiar._

As he hosted the gun onto his shoulder, getting ready to take aim and fire, the beast did something unexpected.

Pushing off of what was left of the gypsy's corpus with its massive claws, the beast shifted all of its weight onto its bent hind legs, and without taking its eyes off of John, slowly began to stand up to its full height.

Thick smoke began to fill the air from the burning tent city; it rose into the air and began to shroud the creature in the foul smelling cloud, slightly obscuring the top half of the beast from John's gaze.

John felt the blood drain from his face as it drew to its full height, leaving him to stare at a barrel chest.

It had to be at least seven, possibly eight feet tall John estimated, still not believing his eyes. The monster's lips curled into an almost smirk like expression, before it tilted it's head back, and let out a guttural howl toward the inky, black sky above.

In that moment, pure adrenaline overcame John. Shifting the shotgun into firing position, he took aim and shot a round at the _thing_ in front of him.

 _BLAM_!

The round shot out of the gun with a tremendous amount of force, forcing John back a step from the recoil, the round grazing the beast's left shoulder, cutting short its howl with a yelp of surprise.

It turned its head to stare at its broad shoulder in what John could only assume was surprise. It turned its head to lock on the shaking, adrenaline-filled man with a look of murderous rage, letting out a deafening roar as it lunged toward him.

John only had a moment to hurl himself out of the way as massive claws came slashing down right on the spot where he had been standing moments before, leaving deep gouges in the earth.

It turned its wolfish head toward John, who was scrambling to get back to his feet, and bellowed at him. However, instead of lunging at him again, it eyed the powerful firearm in John's grip, and then glanced at its beading shoulder, thinking better of it.

It roared at him again before it sprinted off on all fours, moving at an impossibly fast speed. John watched in terror, as it lunged at an unfortunate man in its path, tearing off one of his legs with its powerful jaws, before flinging the appendage into the distance, letting out another blood-curdling howl.

John staggered to his feet and frantically took off in pursuit. He passed by the man whom he had witnessed have his leg torn off, bleeding out onto the snow-splotched grass, moaning feebly. John inwardly knew that the man was probably not going to live to see morning, judging from how much blood-loss he had suffered from the attack.

Swallowing back bile, John charged after the fleeting beast, raising his shotgun in the process. It banked a hard right, and charged up another row of tents, sending a crowd of fleeing gypsy's scattering in a frightened panic. John ran along the other side, the tents blocking him from getting a clear shot at the fast moving animal.

 _BLAM, BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!_

He fired off his riffle four more times in an attempt to hopefully graze the monster again. To his dismay, he watched at the figure of the monster charge past him though a gap in the row of tents and disappears out of sight.

John let out an angry yell of frustration. All around him were the screams of the injured and the panicked, and all he could smell was the rancid smell of smoke from the burning gypsy camp, the thick smoke chocking him and making him gag.

He bent down and placed his hands on his knees in a futile attempt to regain his breath, and gather his bearings. His situation was only made worse as he remembered that he had watched his guide around the camp get torn apart by that… _monster_. Without him, John was afraid he would never find his tiny father-in-law in the surrounding chaos.

He let out a low groan as he slowly stood back up, still feeling slightly disorientated, as he took off into a run though the burning camp, twisting his head left and right, searching frantically for his father-in-law.

"Oh no, oh dear, oh my! This is troubling, someone needs to put out these fires, oh no its spreading! Oh, where are those dratted police men when you need them?'

John paused at the high-pitched panicked voice coming from somewhere on his left. Turning toward the sound, he gaped in disbelieve as he saw a tiny man sitting atop a large, dapple horse though a curtain of smoke.

It was the Mayor. Somehow miraculously uninjured too.

"Mayor, Mayor!" John yelled, running toward the elderly man, startling the horse.

"JOHN? IS THAT YOU?" The smaller man shrieked, urging his skittish horse forward to meet is son-in-law.

"Yes, yes it is! Mayor, what are you doing here? Can't you see the destruction? We have to leave this place at once!" John explained in a rush.

"Something horrible is happening! There is this…" he trailed off. Uncertain of what to call the monster he had seen. It wasn't normal, he knew that much for certain, but he didn't have a name for the creature, and he certainly wasn't going to call it a _werewolf_ like the sisters had told him. No, it had to be something else. His mind _refused_ to believe that it was a monster from a children's tale.

 _They don't exist._ John remained himself with a forceful shake of his head.

"… Animal." He finally settled on, after a moments pause.

"Oh so _that's_ what's causing the chaos!" The mayor snapped his fingers. "I was wondering what was running around the camp lighting it on fire! Oh my, this is a tragedy!"

John stiffed a groan at the aloof man. He truly had no clue what was really going on the campgrounds. He had no idea that there was some sort of super-beast running around the camp, murdering those who stood in its way in a vicious rage.

"Yes, but I feel as though we should leave here and save this conversation for later." John tried to convey to the elderly man, and he shifted his rifle to his shoulder, and grabbed the horse's reins with the other.

"Oh! Wait John, there was a reason that I came out here to find you in the first place!" The mayor protested as John quickly began to turn the large horse around.

"Can it possibly wait dad?" John asked nervously, casting looks over both of his shoulders, searching to see if he could spot the beast though the haze of fire and smoke.

"No! No! This was very important!" The mayor argued. "It was about the cases!"

At that, John paused momentarily to turn around to look up at the elderly man who was perched atop his horse. "What was?" he asked.

"It was an important detail that was brought to my attention earlier! But I forgot to mention it to you! My mind isn't what it used to be as you are aware." The elderly man stated, shifting in the saddle.

"What is it then?" John asked, clutching the reins in a death grip. The mayor fixed his son-in-law with a stern gaze before he responded.

"Every single one of the murders took place on a night of a _full moon!"_ The mayor exclaimed.

"Not every full moon either! Sometimes there would be months without a single incident, but all of the killings happened on a full moon! Strangest thing really, I personally think that we may have a serial killer on our-" he paused, as he lifted his gaze from John's to stare behind him, a confused look spreading across his features.

"What is _that_? Some new breed of dog?" he asked. In that moment, John felt the blood drain completely out of his face as he shakily followed the elderly man's eyes to stare behind him.

There, standing behind the duo, illuminated by the pale glow of the moon; furious crimson eyes nothing more than slits, was the monster that John had encountered earlier, only this time it's dark auburn fur was splattered in a darker red liquid that dripped off of its muscular frame slowly.

The thing glared at both men, its wolfish face contorted into a guttural snarl as muscles coiled and bunched underneath its stained fur, as it slowly stalked toward them.

"Oh no… Dad, you need to get out of here." John whispered desperately over the screams of fleeing gypsies. "That's it… that's the thing that's killing everyone."

"That's it?" The mayor asked, squinting at the creature that was blocking off their escape. "My god, _what is that thing?"_

"I don't know…" John muttered as he let go of the reins and reached for his firearm. "I'm going to try and get it out of the way though."

The beast sudden stopped its approach toward the men, and paused, huffing at them, narrowing its piercing eyes at John as he grasped the gun in both hands, preparing to shoot at it again.

Time seemed to slow down in that moment - It was just them and the beast. The screams became white noise in the background, and the blazing fires seem to turn into soft orange lights on both sides of them.

Man and beast stood staring at each other, unblinking and unmoving.

They were like that for several moments until the beast once again reared up onto its hind legs and let out another haunting howl toward the sky, holding its long, solemn note in the chilly night air, causing John's hands to shake around his rifle.

It slammed back down onto the ground and once again, began to advance forward, ever so slowly. The horse began to shriek loudly at the advancing creature and began to buck lightly; despite the mayor's futile attempts to sooth it.

John narrowed his gaze at the oncoming beast, getting ready to fire at it once again, only to be stopped as another howl - like the one the beast before him had given - tore through the burning air, causing John's eyes to widen in horror and his jaw to become slack with shock. The answering howl was different, it was lower and deeper, and seemed to have a nasty snarl in it's under tones.

 _No._ John thought to himself frantically. _No, there can't be another, please God, tell me there isn't another one!_

The beast in front of him seemed to sense his growing panic and a smirk seemed to spread across its lips, giving John a clear view of its massive canines.

John held onto the rifle, breathing in and out rapidly, trying to steady his shaking hands, all while the mayor was desperately trying to ease his horse, which was becoming increasingly more frantic the closer the beast got toward them.

It moved slowly toward them, closing in on them, its long claws flexing in and out of its finger like paws, the moon illuminating the sick grin on its face, stretching father along its lips. John had his finger on the rifles trigger, waiting for the hulking monster to come closer so that he would have a clear shot to its face, and hopefully this time, hit it dead on.

The beast reared up onto its hind legs, blocking out the bright moon above with its size and roared; its powerful muscles coiling as it prepared to leap at them. Suddenly, both men and monster were plunged into darkness, as the bright, pale moonlight disappeared suddenly.

John watched in frightened fascination as the creature's red, silted eyes dilated suddenly, and it ceased its aggressive movements toward them.

Turning unstably on its bent back legs, the best turned itself around to face the direction of where the moon was moments before.

The moon had been covered by a massive patch of dark clouds that concealed its light, plunging the people on the ground below into almost complete darkness, save from the fires that had almost completely engulfed the campsite.

The beast slowly turned around to stare at John once again, and John was awestruck when he detected a look of familiarity in the creature's eyes.

 _There_ is _something familiar about those eyes._ John realized suddenly. _I just don't know what it is…_

The beast huffed, inhaling and exhaling deeply, looking somewhat tired, before its gaze hardened again and it snarled before it lunged at the men.

 _BLAM!_

John fired the rifle directly at the monster, only to miss his intended target as the creature flung itself past him, letting out a bone-chilling howl. The mayor's horse reared up violently at the sound and hurled the small man off of its back as it bolted.

" _WHHHOOOOAAA-"_

The mayor yelled as he was bucked off of the horses back and hit the ground beneath him, slamming his head onto a rock that jutted out of the ground.

 _BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!_ Click, click, click.

John fired all of his remaining bullets at the retreating animals back as it charged past him on all fours. It quickly maneuvered its way out of the campsite, sending several people flying as it carved a path out of the burning camp, and into the dark forest beyond.

John squinted though the haze of smoke to see the beast leap up on to a rock formation at the base of the woods, overlooking the chaotic ground below, as it let out another piercing howl toward the cloud covered sky.

John's eyes widened in horror as he heard that same lower howl responds to the first. Out of the coroner of his eye, he saw a dark, solid, black mass tear though the campsite and make its way to the top of the rocky alcove to stand beside the crimson-eyed beast.

 _No… dear god no… there's two…_ John's mind whispered, as he dropped the empty shotgun and collapsed to his knees, unable to take his eyes off of the two massive creatures that were now growling and snapping at each other on top of the rocks.

There was movement behind the two beasts, and water began to form in John's eyes from terror, as he watched a _third_ creature appear from behind the first two and force its way up beside them, its fur giving off a silver sheen compared to the darker tones of its companions.

The three bit and snapped at one another before the broader, darker beast, suddenly broke off from the red and silver one, sprinting on all fours in the opposite direction and into the intimidating woods.

The red and silver beast stood on the rock face out for a moment longer, staring down at the damage they had caused, before they too, turned around and disappeared into the woods behind them.

And as quickly as it had started, it was over.

John realised the breath that he hadn't realized that he had been holding in, and placed his hands on the snow and blood stained Earth, sucking in deep intakes of smoke filled air, as he tried to fend off an anxiety attack that was threatening to overtake him.

Weakly, he turned his head to the left to ask his father-in-law if he was alright, only to have his heart stop.

The Mayor had not gotten up from where he had fallen.

John rapidly crawled toward him on his hands and knees, gathering the small, elderly man in his lap as he frantically shook him.

"Dad? Dad? Are you alright? Speak to me please! Dad, you need to wake up! PLEASE!" John yelled, his voice getting increasingly louder from panic.

It was then the John felt a warm substance on his lap, from where the mayor's head was resting. Gently lifting the elderly man's head up, John went numb with dread as he discovered a massive gash on the back of the mayor's head that was bleeding profusely.

Slowly, he placed an ear on the older man's chest, hoping to hear the steady pumping of the muscle within his chest cavity.

Nothing.

His heart was not beating.

John went completely cold, loosening his grip on his father-in-law slightly.

"Dad?" he choked out quietly, as tears began to flood his vision. "Dad?" He whispered, knowing that it was futile.

The mayor was gone.

Shifting the mayor in his arms, John took in what was left of the campgrounds.

Blood soaked the ground, and was spattered alongside of the tents that hadn't been caught up in the wild blaze that had disengaged over half off the campgrounds. Smoke and ash filled the air, making it almost impossible to inhale - the coppery sent of blood serving as the after smell underneath the smoke. Bodies were strewn about everywhere, many missing limbs or mangled completely, none were moving.

And in the middle of the carnage and destruction, surrounded by empty shotgun shells, sat the beaten and broken professor, his dead father-in-law bleeding out onto his lap.

John took a moment to slowly process his surroundings. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the tears that had been gathering in his eyes started to pour down his face like a waterfall, and he opened his mouth and _screamed._

His cries of pain mingled with the chorus of the surviving gypsy's wails of anguish, and rose into the cloud-covered heavens above.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

"That's the last of it."

Bossman sighed as he placed the last of the dead overgrowth from the front lawns hedges into a large trash bag.

Straightening from his bent over position, he wiped his hands on his pants and brushed a cloth along his sweat covered brow.

"Finally done. Brick's really been busting our balls the last few days, huh boys?" he asked Slim and Junior, who were just finishing up their sections of the massive front lawn.

"You could say that." Junior muttered darkly as he finished tying his bag closed. "Its past midnight, and we've been going since early this morning. I just want some dinner and my bed."

"Me too." Slim agreed, the abnormally thin man rubbing his stomach as he hosted his bag of dead branches over his shoulder, his discoloured skin stretching as he did so. "Let's grab something to eat and get to bed. I don't want to be caught out here when the boys get back…"

"It's a little late for that."

The deep growl made all three men drop their bags and whip themselves around, only to come face to face with Butch Jojo. An almost nude Butch Jojo.

"B-boss!" Bossman stuttered surprised. "Y-you're back early… really early… We just finished all of the chores your brother left for us, we were just ah, heading inside… gotta get out of this weather you know…" he trailed off nervously, wringing his hands to try and conceal his shakes.

It did not go unnoticed but Butch. A malicious grin spread across his chiseled features.

"Aw, what? Scared of me? Good. You should be."

He ground out snarling, as he slowly began to advance toward the three retreating men.

"H-hey now, master, come on… No need to get like this…" Bossman stuttered as Slim and Junior moved to cower behind him. "You stay back now. You're not thinkn' right…"

"On the contrary, I'm actually experiencing a lucid moment." Butch corrected the bulky, trench coat wearing man.

"Unfortunately for you and your buddies, it won't be enough to save you freaks. My brothers and I have dealt with your insubordination long enough."

"What in hell's name are you talking about?" Bossman asked, forcing Slim and Junior back farther, "Is this because we was flirting with your girl and her sisters? Shit master, I'm sorry, really, all three of us are!"

Butch's cold forest green eyes narrowed in fury at the three oddly shaped men before him. His tall, powerful frame rippled with muscle, as a violent twitch overtook him.

"Too late." He hissed out, pupils shrinking into mere slits – just as the dark night clouds rolled off of the bright full moon above, bleaching the obsidian haired man in its pale light.

An inhuman scream tore out of the man, as he was forced to his knees by an unseen force, shaking and twitching violently.

Butch slammed his palms down onto the ground, groaning in pain as his back arched and jerked upwards. His skin began to melt away as, dark, black fur, the same shade as his hair, pushed itself out of his pores. His legs bent with a sickening crack, as his big toes shrank and shifted father up his legs, becoming sharp claws as they did so. His nailbeds turned black and became long, pointed claws, tearing at the ground in pain as he struggled to push his monstrous form upright. As he stood, his chest became broader and his bones became thicker, his muscle mass doubling what it was originally. Large ears rose from the top of his head, and his jaws elongated themselves, filling with wicked looking canines.

What had once been a man now stood a beast close to eight feet in height, panting deeply from the transformation, forest green eyes narrowed with hate, as they bore down onto the three men shaking before him.

"It's the wolf…" Bossman breathed as he desperately tried to push Junior and Slim back further away, without taking his eyes off of the mutated Butch. He knew just how dangerous and temperamental the wolf was, and he knew that when Butch transformed, it was damn near impossible to try and reason with him.

"Hey there big guy, easy, easy… You stay there alright?" Bossman soothed desperately, holding one hand out toward the black werewolf.

Butch's ears went flat on his head and a guttural roar erupted from his throat.

Then he lunged.

He was on the Amoeba Bro's before they could even scream. One massive paw wrapped itself wrapped around Bossman's throat chocking off a scream and slammed him into the earth, claws piercing his discoloured neck.

Junior and Slim were able to wriggle out from out underneath their leader, as he continued to thrash feebly against the werewolf's powerful grip on his neck.

The wolf chomped down on Bossman's throat, as his claws raked down the stout man's body, shredding his coat and ripping open his skin in a brutal fashion.

"NO, NO DON'T DO THAT!" Bossman shrieked as the wolf torn open more of his skin. "ENOUGH! GET OFF YOU MANGY MUT-"

His screams were cut off as the wolf raked his massive talons down Bossman's face- tearing it almost completely off, casing screams to erupt from Slim and Junior who were frozen with fear, and could only watch as their leader was mauled by the gigantic black wolf.

The wolf bit down hard onto Bossman's exposed, discoloured, chest, and ripped the skin clear off of his body. Bossman's horrified screams gradually fading away. The skin tore off easily, as if was only stitched loosely together, like a pelt.

The sound of his pray falling silent caused the wolf to back up off of Bossman's broken and battered body, staring down at his victim with cold calculating eyes.

The shredded pile of flesh that was once Bossman did not bleed. The oddly coloured skin was stretched and mangled, deep holes carved into the pounds of skin, but the carcass did not bleed. Instead, a strange blue and green substance began to leak out of the tears in the skin, and began to form a glowing, liquid blob on top of the mangled body.

After a few tense moments, the strange glowing liquid stopped oozing out of the body. The blob shivered violently, before unfocused, bloodshot eyes formed near the top of the strange glowing sludge.

The eyes squinted and blinked, trying to focus on the massive wolf in front of it.

Then it screamed.

The otherworldly wail emitted from a hole in the middle of the blue sludge, cutting across the silent night air, causing the wolf to flatten his ears and growl. Slim and Junior both burst into terrified sobs at the sight of their companion.

" _WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"_ the glowing blob howled. " _LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!"_ it shrieked horrified _._

" _GODDAMN IT YOU STUPID MUTT! YOUR 'FATHER' WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD! YOU MAY KILL ME NOW, BUT YOU ARE NO BETTER THEN US!"_ The glowing blue material shivered violently, its voice echoing hollowly.

" _YOU ARE CURSED! YOU WRECHED WOLF. YOU AND YOUR ACCURSED KIN ARE DAMNED! DAMNED! YOU WILL_ _ **BURN,**_ _DO YOU HEAR ME?_ _ **BUR**_ _-"_

The violent screams were cut off abruptly as the wolf lunged forward and slashed its talons though the mess, ending its otherworldly cries.

The blob gasped, making harsh chocking sounds as the slashed portions of its body began to seemingly evaporate into the dirt.

The bloodshot orbs found their way up to rest on the wolf's violent green ones, giving him a look of pure hate, as it disappeared.

" _Burn..."_ it whispered venomously.

The remaining sludge sighed and shuddered, leaking into the dirt, leaving one red eye behind. The orb became clouded over and blinked once, before just like the rest of the glowing blue material, it melted away into the dirt.

The wolf huffed deeply, satisfied with his actions as he turned his dark irises toward the cowering… men, a few feet away from his towering form.

"Boss! Boss! NO! Oh god, Slim - We have to get out of here!" Junior shrieked in panic, tugging on the taller man's arm.

"Yeah, I'm with you! Run Junior!" Slim yelped as he turned around and began to run up the mansions front steps, skin jostling unnaturally as he moved.

The thundering of heavy paws echoed around the front of the mansion and a muscular form skid to a stop in front of the fleeing men, blocking their escape into the safety of the mansion.

Both men suddenly found themselves face to face with livid crimson eyes. Roaring - the sudden appearance of the dusky red wolf forced the fleeing men back down the steps and toward the muscular, obsidian furred wolf, jaws snapping hungrily as they did so.

"No, no! Stay back! Stay back you demons!" Slim yelped as both mutated wolfs began to circle their pray.

Slim and Junior's faces were bleached completely white under the light of the full moon above them, as they began to sob - realizing that what had happened to Bossman, was to be their fate as well.

"Y-you will _burn._ " Whispered Junior.

"Kill us then you sick bastards, it's not like it will make a difference anyway! You'll be sent back to Hell… _WHERE YOU BELONG!"_ He screamed at the beasts.

The two hulking creatures simply paused for a moment at the screams, eyeing both of their victims before they moved in for the kill.

It happened in an instant.

Both beasts were on the trench coat wearing men, tearing and ripping at their lose skin. Screams of pain echoed through the frosty air, as the skin like pelts were torn off, reveling glowing, blue sludge like creatures within.

The abominations tried desperately to get away from the beasts before they too were slashed by the wolf's massive claws, casing their bodies to start to disintegrate. The otherworldly, echoing screams bounced about the front of the mansion before they too, fell silent.

Then, it was over.

The only trace that the Amoeba Bro's left behind was the tattered remains of their trench coats, and the pelts that they had once called their 'skin.'

The wolfs howled.

The moon shone ominously.

The night of carnage had come to a close.

* * *

"Professor Utonium, are you _sure_ that you didn't see what cased this massacre?"

The aforementioned professor let out a tired sigh, wrapping the thick blanket the authorities had given him around his shaking frame tighter.

"No." He stated firmly. "I didn't."

Of course that was a lie. Lord only knew just how _badly_ John wanted to break down to the two policemen who were questioning him, and tell them _everything_ that had he had witnessed last night. But would they believe him?

No. The chances of that happening were slim to none.

And John couldn't blame them.

He could scarcely believe what he had seen last night was real, and yet he had witnessed not one, not two, but _three_ gigantic, mutated… animals, run amuck though the gypsy's camp, setting it ablaze and slaughtering many innocent people in the process.

He was in the smothering remains of the gypsy's campsite, sitting on the edge of a police carriage, his feet dangling off the side, wrapped in a thick blanket, shivering from nerves and the cold early morning chill.

The gray dawn light did little to brighten the chaos around them.

The miserable sobs of the surviving gypsy's still assaulted John's ears and he winced.

The Townsville police had arrived far too late to be of any real help to the situation. Instead they been helping the survivors gather the dead to lay them out side by side at the entrance of the camp, near the wagon John was sitting on.

The number of red stained, sheet covered bodies had been growing rapidly for the past hour, and with more and more policemen arriving to help clean up the campsite, the count was steadily growing.

John tore his bloodshot eyes away from the bodies and turned his head around to peer into the gloom of the police wagon.

There, in the back, resting on one of the small cots was another body wrapped in a sheet. This one was much smaller than the others.

The mayor.

John bit back a sob as he covered his mouth with one hand and shut his eyes tightly, willing tears not to come.

 _This is entirely my fault._ He thought to himself.

 _If I had just gotten him out earlier… If I had forced him to go… he wouldn't have gotten knocked off of his horse… he-he wouldn't have fallen and…_ Cracked his head open like an eggshell.

The brutal thought ran though his mind, and John placed his head in his hands as a whimper escaped him.

The mayor had been like a second father to John though-out the years, as he had lost his own at a young age. The mayor, his father-in-law, the man he affectionately called dad, and his wife's beloved father, was gone. Killed in a freak accident, that could have easily been avoided.

 _The worst part of it all: How am I going to explain this to Sara?_ John thought miserably.

He closed his eyes and buried his head in his hands again as he tried to control his emotions. But every time he shut his eyelids, he was confronted with the image of the beast towering above him, surrounded by smoke and flame.

His eyes snapped open and he groaned, rubbing at his stinging eyes. He had to go home and escape from this nightmarish place. He had been out all night and he could only imagen how worried Sara, his mother-in-law and his daughters were about him.

"Excuse me sir?" He questioned a ragged looking officer who was placing a tarp over another mangled body.

Said officer stiffened and turned around to face John. "Yes? What can I help you with Professor Utonium?' He asked.

"Well, I can see that you are rather… preoccupied at the moment, but I really must be getting home to my family. You wouldn't by chance have an extra horse around would you? I'm afraid mine seems to have bolted in the panic."

The officer shook his head. "'fraid not sir. All of our horses are working on carting the dead out of here at the moment. You and your family are taking residence with the May-" he paused, wincing as he looked at John and peered into the wagon behind him, before turning his attention back to John.

"… The Bellum family. We can take you back there once we're done here. We'll only be about an hour or so more… We've finally managed to make a dent in clearing out the camp… Christ, what a mess."

He whipped at his brow. "We'll also stop by the morgue so we can drop off the mayor… A damn shame, he was such a jolly old fellow. He was mayor of this town for over fifty years. He really did love this place. Say a lot of things here that no one else did."

The officer sighed as he took his hat off. "I'm just sorry that he had to deal with this nonsense for the last few years of his life."

"Wait… This has been going on for _years?"_ John asked surprised. "I was under the impression that this has only been happening for a few months."

"Well… This level of destruction is completely new. But we've always had strange murders happen here. It's been going on for years. But they were never this frequent…" The officer trailed off slightly as he fixed John with a stern gaze.

"My colleges and I were alerted by Sir Jojo that you would be helping us with our investigation. Have you discovered anything so far that we should be looking for?" He asked.

"N-no, no, nothing yet… I would need to… go over the deceased records with Mojo and… possibly look into some of the wild-life you have out here in that forest of yours." John nodded toward the dark forest.

Even with the sun peaking up over the horizon, the forest remained dark and foreboding. A thin trail of mist seeped out the front line of trees, making the wood look ominous and unwelcoming.

"Do you think it was an animal that did this?" The officer asked, gesturing around the ruined campgrounds.

"I have reason to believe it was." John muttered weakly, as his hand slipped into his blood-soaked coat pocket. "A man couldn't cause this much destruction."

"You think that an animal is smart enough to do all of this?" The police man questioned.

"Animals are smarter then we give them credit for." John countered, as his fingers rubbed the silver medallion. "My time as a scientist has proven that much. It would take a rather large… animal to cause this much damage, but it's not unheard of. It's something that we should consider."

"All of the gypsy's that we've been able to talk too just keep blabbering the same thing: "The Devil, the Devil did this!" the policeman mimicked. "And the howling. They keep going on and on about the howling they heard. Wolves maybe?"

The hairs on the back of John's neck rose at the mention of wolves and he thought back to the glimpse of the beast's face that he had gotten. _Wolfish._ That was the only way to describe it.

But John only shook his head. "It's a possibility." He muttered, dropping his gaze to his lap.

The police man frowned at John's lack of an explanation. "Well, if you or Sir Jojo discover anything worthwhile, you be sure to let us know. We could use all the help we can get right now."

The officer straightened and gave a polite nod to the solemn professor, as he processed to move past him.

"Wait." John murmured, causing the officer to stop and raise a quizzical brow at him.

"The body count… How many are dead exactly?" John questioned lowly.

The officer sighed. "Difficult to tell right now really. We're still dragging out bodies from the center of the camp, however there was an estimated two hundred gypsies in this particular camp. So far more than half have turned up dead."

"Half… Half of them are dead?" John whispered stunned. The officer nodded.

"Most subcommand to their injuries. I've never seen anything like it. Limbs torn completely off, throats slashed, eyes gouged out… No I think your right; a man could not have done this. Not even a group of them."

He sighed. "Someone will be along to take you home shortly. I'll see if one of my junior officers would be willing to. I'm sure I'll have plenty of volunteers."

With a weak smile the officer made his way back into the ruins of the camp and disappeared from John's view, leaving him completely alone.

John's stiff fingers curled around the silver medallion in his pocket and pulled it out, letting the gleaming silver catch the early morning sunrise.

He palmed the small circular piece, absentmindedly tracing the picture of the wolf that was engraved on its surface, before he held it up in front of his face, studying it closely.

The silver shone gently in his hand, seemingly innocent enough, but John knew that there was more to the trinket that the sisters hadn't told him about. It still held onto some of its secrets.

Just what exactly _had_ he seen last night? It wasn't like any other animal he had ever seen before.

 _Perhaps it was some aggressive new species that was yet to be documented?_ The logical side of his brain questioned.

 _No. It was unnatural. Those things from last night were not normal._ The other half argued.

John let a tiny sigh out though his nostrils. He didn't want to think about it anymore. He was cold, tired and had just lost yet _another_ family member. All within a two week span.

 _Besides_ , John thought bitterly, _it's not like I can just tell anyone what I saw, no one would believe me! If the police won't believe what the gypsies are saying the chances of them taking my word are extremely low._

But he couldn't just keep silent. He had to tell someone. Mojo, John thought to himself, Mojo was probably his best bet.

Mojo would at least listen to him. He was a man of science just like he was; he would be able to find a logical explanation to the thing that he had seen terrorize the campsite last night. If anyone could then it was him. John himself was truly out of explanations.

John glanced at the silver in his palm, focusing on the little wolf engraved onto its surface. Suddenly the sister's words came back to him.

 _The Beast._

 _Moonwalker._

 _ **WEREWOLF.**_

John scoffed weakly. Such creatures didn't exist outside of fairy tales. They weren't real. They _couldn't_ be real.

Could they?

"You're not real." John whispered to the pendant. "You're not real."

Secretly, he was desperately trying to convince himself that what he was saying was true.

* * *

 **Bellum manor**

Bubbles walked aimlessly around the manor's large, fenced in back gardens.

Her small boots made light crunching sounds as she trudged in freshly fallen snow. Her baby blue eyes wandered about the garden as the cold winter wind swept her blonde hair around her face.

The old willow tree's that surrounded the garden were bare, their long, whip like branches swaying back and forth in the wind. The shrubs that decorated the garden were also bare. The garden was completely devoid of colour or life.

Cold.

Dead.

Kind of like how she felt right now.

After staying up all night with her sisters, mother and grandmother, waiting anxiously for her father and grandfather to return home; her father had come back while they were having breakfast and shocked the entire family with what he told them.

There had been a horrific attack on the gypsy camp that he had gone to visit, that had left many dead.

But what was worse was that her grandfather had been a part of the casualties.

After hearing that, her grandmother had gone into hysterics and had begun sobbing uncontrollably. She had to be escorted upstairs by Nanny. Her mother on the other hand, had simply gone into shock and hadn't uttered a word since.

As her father had rushed forward to comfort her, she and her older sisters had gotten up and left the table without a word, leaving their parents in peace.

She had started to tear up in the hallway and had desperately tried to wipe the water away before her sister's saw.

It didn't go unnoticed by Buttercup however, and the raven haired girl had wrapped her blue-clad sister in a hug, whispering in her ear to go for a walk outside to calm down. She then had escaped to her room, locking the door behind her.

Blossom had also paused to give her a hug, telling her that if she needed anything that she would be in the living room, before she too disappeared. Bubbles heard the sound of the grand piano that her grandparents kept in the living room, start playing a haunting tune not a minute later.

Somehow, Bubbles had found her way into the garden. The silence was comforting; no one was in sight, leaving her to do as she pleased without worrying about anyone seeing.

Bubbles sighed, trying to pull her mind away from the disastrous morning and concentrate on her surroundings.

She made her way over to the edge of the fenced in property. The tall, black iron bars separating her from the forest that surrounded the back of the manor.

Scanning the area, Bubbles found a small stone bench that faced the woods; she brushed some of the snow off of it and sat down, the cold stone leaching the little heat she had from her, causing a shiver to run up her spine.

Bubbles gazed into the woods ahead of her, lost in thought.

 _What happened?_ She asked herself quietly. _What could have killed all of those poor people? Was it responsible for grandpa's death too?_

Bubbles winced at the thought and once again fought back the urge to cry. Her mother was almost in a catatonic state and her grandmother wasn't in any better shape. She had to remain strong for them. Both she and her sisters did.

Bubbles let a whimper escape her throat. _No one is here. I'm alone._ She thought privately. _If I'm going to cry I may as well do it now._

She dropped her gaze to her lap, and watched as tears began to roll down her cheeks and onto her dress covered legs. Small sounds started to escape her throat as the tears came faster.

"Bubbles?"

A slightly rough voice snapped her out of her reprieve.

There, standing right in front of her, behind the gated fence, was Boomer Jojo.

Bubbles gasped upon noticing him. He still had dark bags under his eyes from the last time she had seen him, but overall he looked physically better - stronger even.

His appearance was slightly disheveled. His blonde hair was mussed and Bubbles noticed that his clothes were untucked and wrinkled, but that was the last thing on her mind.

"Boomer? What are you doing here?" Bubbles asked in disbelieve as she hastily wiped the tears from her cheeks.

Boomer frowned at her actions. "I was… taking a walk. I like going for walks in the woods early in the morning… it's therapeutic." He muttered. He nodded at the smaller girl.

"What about you? Why are you out so early?"

Bubbles only shook her head. "It's nothing…" she trailed off, breaking his intense gaze on her.

"You must really enjoy morning walks; you're pretty far away from your estate." She tried to doge his question with a small smile.

Boomer only shook his head. "It doesn't look like nothing. What's wrong?" he persisted.

Bubbles met his dark cobalt stare again and stood up from the cold stone bench to walk toward the fence where he was.

"I… Well… Have you heard about… What happened to the gypsy camp last night?" she asked him.

Boomer nodded. "I did yes. I heard there were a lot of casualties. The authorities apparently don't know what happened."

His dark eyes flicked down to his hands for a moment before they snapped back up to meet her sky blue eyes. "What about it?'

Bubbles wrung her hands. "My grandfather, the mayor… he was one of them."

Boomer froze suddenly. "Shit." He swore under his breath. "I mean, sorry about that. I don't suppose you know what happened to him? Oh, wait, don't answer that!" he sputtered frantically, trying to backtrack.

Bubbles only shook her head at the flustered man in front of her, a tiny smile crossing her cheeks. He was cute, even when he was a sputtering mess.

"The only thing I know is that he got thrown off of his horse and he hit his head… that's all papa will tell me." Bubbles felt water well up in her eyes once again, and she quickly turned away from the tall male, not wanting him to see her cry.

Boomer's intense gaze immediately softened, and he let out a small sigh, feeling guilty about seeing the pretty girl upset.

"Hey, hey, come here now." Boomer rumbled soothingly, sticking a hand though the fence toward her.

Slowly Bubbles turned back around to face him and moved closer toward him, taking his large, calloused hand in her smaller one.

His hand immediately ingupled her own and gently pulled her closer to the bars, as his other hand wrapped around her thin frame, giving her a hug though the fence.

It was the oddest feeling, but somehow, wrapped in the leaner man's protective grasp, Bubbles had never felt safer than she did in that moment. She sighted contently at the heat his body gave off and tried to snuggle closer to him.

Boomer rubbed her back soothingly. "It's alright now. Don't worry, it'll all be ok, I promise." He told her gently, chuckling as she tried to snuggle closer to him for warmth.

"You're cold; you need to go back inside." He told her gently as he released his hold on her, backing away from the fence.

"Boomer, you need to be careful. I don't know what happened last night, but whatever caused all that destruction might still be out there!" Bubbles cautioned.

Boomer only shook his head. "I think that I'll be alright. I'll stick close to the outside of the forest if it'll make you feel better though." He told her with a small grin.

Bubbles nodded "Please." She stated before her eyes widened.

"Oh that's right… My sisters and I had plans to have lunch together with your brothers didn't we?" she asked.

Boomer nodded. "I doubt we'll be seeing you today though. Take your time to grieve, we can wait." He told her kindly.

Bubbles nodded. "Yes… We're going to need a few days, I'm sorry. This is not a good time for us. Our mother and grandmother need all the support they can get right now." She informed him.

Boomer nodded. "Understandable. Don't worry; I'll let my brothers know. They'll understand."

He turned his head to the left and a small frown crossed his face. "I have to go. My brother's will be wondering where I am, I'm not usually gone for this long."

He paused hesitantly as his dark blue eyes bore into her light ones

"You know Bubbles… If you ever need to get away from this place for a while, you and your sisters are always welcome on our estate."

Boomer told her politely, with the smallest of smiles on his face.

He met her baby blue eyes again, and gave a slight bow.

" _Milady."_

With a final wave, Boomer made his way along the forest, before he ducked behind some dead overgrowth and disappeared from Bubbles line of sight.

Bubbles watched as he disappeared. Her hand rubbed at her arms, trying to bring back some of the warmth that Boomer had provided.

She let a small sigh escape her pink lips, her breath coming out as a small cloud of steam, and another shiver ran though her as she rubbed her arms again.

Boomer was right. She needed to go back inside. The temperature was starting to drop to unfavorable levels.

Turning back around to face the manor, Bubbles slowly began to trek back toward the house, stealing herself. It was going to be a difficult day for both her and her sisters.

Bubbles hoped that things would get better from here on out.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

"Butch you're an idiot."

Brick seethed as he felt another piece of metal that was lodged in his shoulder get pulled free.

Said brother snorted.

"Why am I an idiot?" He questioned dryly, as he yanked another piece of shrapnel from his older brother's shoulder using a pair of tweezers.

"Because when I said: 'Teach them a lesson' I didn't necessarily mean _kill_ them idio- OW! Watch it that hurts!" Brick hissed in discomfort as Butch pulled a final shard of metal from his shoulder.

"Carful Red, I don't have to do this." Butch warned with a smirk. "I could just let this heal over with shrapnel still in it, but I doubt that you want that."

"Besides," Butch paused, checking over the lightly bleeding wound, "You shouldn't be lecturing me. _You_ jumped in on the fun as well."

"Only because I saw you tearing them apart!" Brick snapped, as he felt Butch start to apply a roll of gauze to the gunshot wound. "Instinct took over. I wasn't thinking clearly."

The obsidian spiked man scoffed at the remark. "When do we ever think clearly?" He muttered as he finished addressing the wound, stepping back to admire his handiwork.

"That should be fine for now. It wasn't very deep. I'd give it a day and it'll be complete healed over. Who managed to shoot you anyway?"

Brick averted his crimson red irises from his brother's forest green ones. "I can't remember." He muttered finally.

He frowned suddenly.

"Where the hell is Boomer? He should be back by now; usually he's the one who patches us up." Brick scowled as he watched the gauze shift on his shoulder. "You tied it too loose."

Butch simply rolled his eyes. "Your welcome." He grumbled as he began to wash his hands in a bowl of warm water that he had placed by the roll of gauze, turning the water pink as he did so.

Lifting up his shirt, he frowned. "Well I don't know what I did exactly, but someone managed to make some nice little gashes on me. That's going to be a pain to clean out."

"What are you two going on about?"

Both brothers turned to see Boomer enter the mansions living room where they were seated.

"Finally, and where have you been?" Brick snapped as he tested his shoulder, wincing. "It never takes you that long to scan the property."

"I… Took a detour." Boomer muttered. "How's the shoulder?"

"Sore, but I'll live." Brick responded curtly with another wince.

"So I have some news…" Boomer started, unsure of how to tell his brothers.

"What is it?" Butch hissed as he began applying rubbing alcohol to the gashes on his chest in an effort to clean them.

"The mayor is dead."

Both of the older males paused and turned their full attention to their younger sibling at his words.

"Come again?" Brick asked dangerously.

"The mayor was apparently caught up in the chaos last night. He fell and smashed his head open." Boomer muttered.

"Oh… Well, that is… unfortunate." Butch grumbled as he finished cleaning out his gashes.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"… As unfortunate as that is, we have bigger things to worry about right now." Brick rumbled after a moment, pointing toward Butch.

"Butch decided that it would be a great idea to tear up the Amoebas last night…"

"You helped!" the dark man interrupted with a scowl.

"… and I helped." Brick admitted finally.

"I heard." Boomer responded, crossing his arms. "I figured it was only a matter of time for those freaks. Did you dispose of the evidence?"

"Already done." Brick assured him. "The abominations took care of themselves. The real problem is how are we going to explain this to dad?"

"I… don't really know." Boomer admitted shrugging his shoulders. "He won't be happy that we destroyed his creations…"

"Worry about the monkey man when he wakes up." Snapped Butch as he pulled his shirt back down.

"Besides, those 'creations' of his were accidents. Failures. By-products. They didn't even have a solid form!"

"Well, if you put it that way Butch. Technically, we were accidents as well."

Boomer softly interrupted. Butch tensed and shot a dark look at his younger brother.

"Well… At least we have skin." he growled, turning his stare to the dark marble floors.

Brick cleared his throat, directing his brother's attention back to him.

"We're going to need to hire some new lackeys. Someone who can keep an eye on things around town and let us know what is going on."

"True." Butch agreed. "We need someone who is more… inconspicuous then the Amoebas were."

"Someone actually _human."_ Boomer added.

"The townspeople are terrified of us though. It would be difficult to convince one of them to work for us." Brick mused thoughtfully.

"We need someone smarter than the Amoebas, but dumb enough to not question our orders…" Brick trailed off before his blood red orbs shot up to meet Butch's dark green irises.

"What was that gang you used to run with a few years ago?" he questioned. "The Gang Rot, the Gang Growth, no the…" He snapped his fingers, trying to think of the correct name.

Butch snorted as he fell back onto one of the living rooms exotic couches.

" _The Ganggreen Gang?"_ he supplied.

Brick snapped his fingers. "That's it." He confirmed. "What about them?"

"What _about_ them?" Butch asked with a groan.

"Can you work with them?" Brick asked.

"You mean: can they be manipulated? Yes. But getting the job done and following orders is another story." Butch muttered covering his eyes with a large hand.

"They weren't the smartest bunch ever. They lacked motivation. I got tired of playing around and I left." Butch grumbled.

"… The _only_ one I could see as being any real use to us was their leader, Ace." Butch added in as an afterthought.

"He was the brains of the gang. But he got himself thrown in the penitentiary a few years ago for 'accidental manslaughter.' They couldn't prove it was him of course, but he's got quite a few years left in there if I remember correctly."

"What about the others?" Brick questioned.

"Idiots. The lot of them." Butch responded.

"They were just as dumb as the Amoebas, maybe even more so. It doesn't even matter, after Ace got thrown in the slammer, they all just… disappeared. I have no idea where they are. Ace was the only person holding them together. Without him, they had no direction." The obsidian haired man waved his hand dismissively.

"What about this Ace character? Could we use him as a pawn?" Brick murmured.

"For the right price, sure." Butch answered nonchalantly. "The guy did almost anything for money."

"He sounds useful. Do you think he would work for us?" Brick asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't know if he'd be all that pleased to see me again, but I know that he wants out. He's a desperate man, and I know that desperate men will do almost _anything."_ Butch let a malicious grin spread across his cracked lips.

"I think he'd be willing to help us in exchange for his freedom. He could be our new pawn."

"Our eyes and ears." Boomer nodded. "Hopefully, this Ace character will do a better job than the Amoebas."

"It doesn't really matter whether he does or not. He's expendable. You know what will happen to him if he doesn't."

"Chopping block." Butch grinned, turning over on the couch to face his siblings. "Literally!"

Brick let a sinister smirk rise up on his lips.

"Exactly."

* * *

 **Authors note:** _Holy lord Jesus. I have given birth to a monster._

 _Again, I would like to apologise for the wait. I wanted to take my time with this chapter, as it was the first appearance of the werewolf's since chapter one and I wanted to make their return glorious and violent. Hopefully I have done so._

 _I would like to keep up a steady pace of at least two chapters a month, however, if the upcoming chapters are as big as this one was, I'm probably limit it to just one. Again, I like to take my time with these chapters, as I enjoy writing them and you all seem to enjoy them tremendously._

 _Speaking of which…_

 _I would like to personally thank each and every one of you who have favorited and or left a review for Lycan. It means a great deal to me and honestly, all reviews bring a smile on my face! It's such a great feeling when someone takes the time to appreciate a fun little story that you made in your spare time!_

 _Regardless, thank you all so very much!_

 _Some of you may be wondering why the professor can't seem figure out the answer to his question about the "beast" that he saw, even though the answer is staring him straight in the face. It's because he takes his job as a scientist extremely seriously._

 _He's one of the leading minds in this AU's world, and he needs solid proof before he believes in something out of the ordinary. Right now, he's currently in denial, as he believes that what saw was a new, undiscovered hybrid of sorts. He doesn't believe the information Berserk told him was real, as he believes that gypsy's are superstitious people, and therefore, their views are flawed._

 _However, despite him requiring proof to believe in something out of the ordinary, he is willing to admit that he has witnessed some things in the past they he couldn't fully explain… Oddly enough it was during the early days of his career when he was working with Mojo…_

 _But, that is a tale for a different chapter._

 _Also, we learn a little more about Mrs. Sedusa! She's a complicated lady that's for sure. No one knows where she is at the moment, and as you now know, her life has not been a pleasant one… But more will come on her later._

 _And we get to meet the Punks, whom she is related too. Their whole family dynamic is so complicated it makes my head hurt._

 _Well, now we know the Amoebas little secret… What were they exactly and how did they come to be? Hrmmm… All we know is that they're being replaced by someone much worse…_

 _Ace…_

 _Thank you all some much for reading! Stay amazing lovelies!_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	6. No Escape

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _The rating of this story is a_ _ **High T**_ _for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned_.

 _Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners._

 _The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages._

* * *

 **Chapter 6: No Escape**

"What do you mean we can't leave?"

John asked flabbergasted to the will-reader sitting across from him and Sara in the Bellum household's living room.

The will-reader flinched at the tone in John's voice as he struggled to find his own.

"Well, in the Mayor's will, his final wishes were to pass over the manor to his only child; Mrs. Utonium that would be you." He nodded his head toward the voluptuous woman in red.

"Of course, he left the house to his wife as well naturally, however her mental state is… questionable at this moment in time, my apologies." He added quickly.

"Due to the depression that your mother has sunk into, the city has deemed her unfit for the time being to make any decisions about the mayor's will and earthly possessions, which leaves you Mrs. Utonium, to decide what to do with your father's land." The will-reader explained calmly.

"I am well aware that you and your family have taken up residence in Citysville, but until the matter of the mayor's will is resolved, we cannot permit you or the rest of your family to leave Townsville, even for short visits."

"But I have work in Citysville!" John protested, "My patrons will be wondering where I am, I've been gone for almost twice as long as I said I would!"

The will-reader shot John a sympathetic look.

"I am sorry Professor, truly I am, but they are not my rules unfortunately. If it were up to me I would let you go back and explain to your colleagues, but for the time being, I'll have to ask that you remain in town."

The will-reader rose from his spot on the couch to shake the couple's hands politely before he gathered his brief-case and made his way to the front door.

As he opened the large, heavy door, he paused, turning to face the married couple as they stood behind him.

"If you wish to return to Citysville, I would suggest that you find a living relative that is related to you by blood, Mrs. Utonium. The house, as I'm sure you already know, has been in the Bellum possession for generations, and the mayor's final wish was to keep it so. Until you find a blood relative that is willing to take over the manor, you have my deepest apologies."

The will-reader politely tipped his hat to the couple before he stepped outside into the frozen winter air, firmly shutting the door behind him.

John and Sara stood in the entry room staring at the now closed door, before stealing a glance at each other in apparent disbelief at the news that they would be forced to extend their visit to Townsville.

A week had passed from the horrific events at the gypsy campsite. As soon as Townsville had heard about the massacre that had transpired - including the death of their beloved mayor - they had gone up in arms.

Fear ran rampant though-out the town. None of the townspeople knew who or what had been responsible for the attack, and paranoia had only worsened the panicked thoughts of the village people, causing them to head for their homes as soon as dusk fell over the town and lock their doors and windows, keeping their firearms close by.

Thankfully though, despite the erratic behavior of the town's people, there had been no more attacks since the one on the gypsy campsite, allowing the town a fleeting moment of peace and a chance to try and recover from the shock.

It hadn't been so peaceful at the Bellum manor however.

Ever since the death of the mayor, the girls grandmother had fallen into a deep depression and had become completely unresponsive to her family, leaving Sara in charge of the manor and any urgent family matters - such as what was to be done about the late mayor's will.

Which was the current predicament that the family found themselves in.

"I can't believe this." John muttered, still staring at the now shut door.

"I can't believe that they won't let us leave! I need to return to Citysville at some point and explain why I need to extend my visit here!" He ranted at his wife.

"I could write them a letter I suppose, but with winter setting in, it'll take the post office longer to deliver the mail, and… the things that I saw that night… I don't think that writing it in a letter will do it justice…"

John trailed off, his eyes glazing over as he stared off into the distance. Sara placed a hand on John's pale cheek, bringing his attention back to her.

"While I don't agree with them about forcing us to stay here, I can understand why they're doing it." Sara admitted gently.

"It's a small town, and my father was the one person in charge. He was the mayor of Townsville for years and years - his word was practically law and now that he's gone…" She paused, sucking in a breath. "Now that he's gone, someone needs to take temporary control of Townsville until a new mayor is appointed, and any personal matters of his need to be attended to immediately. The matter of my father's will is one such example."

John sighed and rubbed at his temples. He wasn't even sure why he was surprised at this point. Something urgent that required the couple's immediate attention always seemed to come up at the most inconvenient times in the past week.

"So… you need a blood relative to come and take over the manor." John clarified

"Yes. The problem with that is that my side of the family is… Spread out, I suppose you could say." Sara muttered, as she turned her deep green eyes downward.

"Spread out?" John echoed.

"There was a reason that our wedding was so small." Sara cracked a tiny grin. "Most if not all of my family lives out of town, and not anywhere near here. They couldn't make it to the reception"

"And here I was thinking that they didn't like me." John attempted at humor. He reward was a low chuckle from his wife.

"They like you plenty." She assured her husband. "But when I say 'out of town' I really do mean it."

"How far away are we talking?" John asked curiously, causing Sara to sigh.

"Well, I don't have many full-blooded family members left." Sara admitted softly, as she tapped her index finger against her chin.

"I do have a cousin who I think would be _more_ than willing to move down here if it meant that she gets the manor." She scowled slightly.

"Do I want to hand over my child-hood home to her? Not exactly, but we _do_ need to return to Citysville at some point…" She trailed off as she thought.

"How far away does this cousin of yours live?" John inquired. "Do I know her?"

"I don't think so." Sara responded, as she continued tapping her finger against her chin. "I don't think she was able to make our wedding. She's not exactly close. But she's the only blood relative of mine that would be willing to make the trip down here."

Sara sighed and her shoulders slumped slightly.

"The only issue is… She lives in Megaville." She admitted quietly, causing Johns eyebrows to raise and his mouth to open in shock.

"That's almost four states away from here!" He exclaimed. "There's no one else? No one closer?"

"If there was, I would have mentioned them." Sara pointed out gently. "She's one of the few family members that I actually know personally. I spent a fair amount of time with her as a child before she moved away. If I remember correctly, she lives just outside of Megaville. Not that it makes much of a difference."

"Not really no." John admitted with a small smile, as he looped an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"If the closest family member you have lives in Megaville, where does the rest of your family stay?" he asked.

"Oh, close family? The last I heard, the majority of them have taken up residence in Statesville, and that's even farther away." Sara shrugged. "We all used to live relatively close to here, but as I got older, the rest of my relatives moved away from here… I never did figure out why."

 _I think I may know why._ John thought to himself darkly.

He hadn't told his wife or his daughters just what exactly he had seen that fateful night at the gypsy campgrounds, as he wasn't even sure what he himself had witnessed. The last thing that he wanted was them thinking that he was losing his mind, so he had opted to stay silent.

"No idea." He answered quickly as he glanced down to meet her deep green gaze. "How… How long exactly do you think that it will take her to come to Townsville?"

"Well… I'm not exactly sure." Sara admitted. "I'd have to write her a letter explaining our situation here. What with winter practically here, it's going to take the post far longer to deliver the mail, especially to Megaville." She muttered, placing her head in the palm of her hand as she thought.

"That and considering the fact that if she accepts, we _are_ literally asking her to move down here… She'll have to pack all of her belongings… Board a train… Take _several_ carriages to get to here… All and all, I'd have to say… Six months, give or take."

"SIX MONTHS?" John felt the colour drain from his face as buried his hands into his salt and pepper locks.

"How am I supposed to explain _that_ to my patrons? Six months… That's half a year! They're already wondering where I am now! How am I supposed to explain an added six months disappearance?" He cried.

"I don't know." Sara responded gently, trying to calm her frantic husband. "If I write to my cousin now, before the weather gets any worse, I believe that the letter may reach her in a few weeks. I suggest that you write to your colleagues as well and explain the situation."

She reached up to plant a gentle kiss on his pale cheek before the curly haired woman removed herself from his hold and disappeared down a hallway, no doubt off to the manor's study to begin writing a letter to her mysterious cousin.

John hung back in the entrance hall, still trying to process the ordeal that was presented before him.

He was stuck here.

His _family_ was stuck here.

Trapped in Townsville with those… _Things._

John buried his face in his hands. They couldn't leave. They were trapped here until Sara was able to contact her cousin and have her take over the Bellum manor in her absence.

Until then however…

There was no escape.

"Papa?"

A timid voice called from the top of the staircase. John whirled around, only to see his youngest daughter, staring down at him from the top of the stairs. Her sky blue eyes filled with concern.

"Oh Bubbles, there you are, come here sweetheart." John murmured gently, extending a hand up toward her.

Bubbles quickly descended the staircase and John pulled her into a hug, kissing her soft blonde hair. John sighed quietly. It wasn't fair that his daughters were trapped here with him, unable to leave. As if Bubbles was reading his mind, she tilted her head up to look at her father.

"Are we staying here for longer?" Bubbles asked after a moment, seemingly unsure of how to ask.

"Yes… Yes we are." John confirmed with a sigh. "Unfortunately, we cannot leave Townsville until your grandfathers will has been dealt with."

"So… We can't go back to Citysville?" Bubbles asked.

"No." John responded curtly. "Not until we can contact one of your mother's relatives to come take over the manor for us."

"Mama thinks that's going to take a while." Bubbles sighed. John peered down at his youngest as he offered her a small smile.

"Now you know it's not very lady-like to eavesdrop on other people's conversations." He chuckled, causing Bubbles to flush slightly.

"It's not just me!" She protested. "Blossom and Buttercup are listening too!"

John turned his dark gazed up to the top of the marble staircase once again, only to see two sets of eyes staring back at him. John chuckled as he motioned for his two eldest to join him in the foyer.

Obediently, his pink and green clad daughters made their way down the pale marble staircase and he pulled them into the hug as well.

"I'm sorry." He told them quietly. "I know that you three have friends back in Citysville, and I don't want to keep you away from them any longer then I have too. But I suppose we are going to have to be patient."

"S'all right dad." Buttercup chimed in, her voice slightly muffled by her father's arm. "I like it here better anyways. It's quieter here, less people to deal with." She admitted.

John sighed, she had a point there, and after what he had witnessed, there were significantly less people in Townsville now…

He shook his head quickly, not letting himself get taken back to that horrific night.

"Yes, well… Girls, I want you all to promise me something." John hesitantly began. His arms fell away from his triplets, allowing them to back away from his tall frame, in order to look him in the eyes.

Blossom nodded her head, urging him to continue. "Anything." She told him.

"I – I want the three of you to stay indoors after dark." John said quickly. "You don't know what I've seen. I just want you three to be safe… If anything, _anything_ happened to you girls… I don't… I don't know what I would do…"

Blossom stepped forward and took her father's hand in her porcelain one, gripping it tightly. "Don't worry papa. Nothing is going to happen to us. We promise." She told him firmly.

John only nodded tiredly. "Let us hope that I'm overreacting then."

Buttercup's vivid green eyes flickered as she quietly recalled the last conversation she had with a certain man with jet black hair.

" _Stay out of the woods."_

She frowned at the warning. What had Butch meant by that? Did he know what was responsible for the attack on the gypsy camp that had killed her grandfather?

"Hey, dad…" She began hesitantly. John meat her bright eyes and nodded to her, signalling for her to continue.

"Did you figure out what those things were that attacked the camp?" Buttercup asked, pulling at her long, dark hair in a rare show of unease.

John's face paled again and his eyes began to glaze over as he though back to the night of carnage. Buttercup instantly regretted asking.

"No." John finally managed to get out. "No I didn't get a good look at it. It was an animal though." He informed her, before his gaze narrowed. "Which is all the more reason for you girls to stay inside after dark." He told them sternly.

" _Stay out of the woods."_

Buttercup's frown deepened as the warning echoed ominously in her head. Just what did he kn—

Her thoughts were interrupted by several loud knocks on the large, oak double doors behind her and her sisters. Startled, she spun around to glare at the door where the knocks were emanating from.

"Who in the world could that be?" John brushed past his daughters to answer the door. He swung open the heavy block of wood to reveal a young man dressed in messengers clothes standing on the step.

"'Afternoon Professor." The young man greeted. "Letter for ya from the Jojo Estate." He pressed on, as he riffled though his messenger bag, searching for the letter.

Finally he straitened and presented a slightly crumpled envelope to the older gentleman, before tipping his post-office cap to him and darting away off the steps and into the biting winter winds.

John shut the door behind him and gazed down that the thin envelope in his hands, shaking slightly as he did so.

A letter from the Jojo residence was never a good thing. John had years of past experience to prove that.

"Who is that from?" Blossom questioned, coming up behind her father to peer over his shoulder and down at the letter.

"It's ah, from the Jojo estate." John muttered as he slowly began to open it. He unfolded the piece of paper from inside the envelope and began to read the elaborate handwriting, frown deepening as he did so.

"What is it?" Bubbles asked her father, the look on his face not escaping her curious baby blue orbs.

"It would appear that Sir. Mojo is requesting an audience with me today for lunch." John responded. "Probably to invite me into his lab so we can finally go over what happened to the victims-"

"And discus what you saw at the campgrounds?" Buttercup interrupted.

John hesitated for a moment before he nodded to his middle daughter, confirming what she said. "Yes – that will probably come up as well. Though whether he believes me or not is a different story."

He then turned his attention back to the rest of the letter before he froze and his eyes became as wide as saucers.

"Well, what is it?" Blossom asked confused at the sudden change in her father's demeanor.

"He – he wants you three to accompany me as well…" John trailed off. "Well, his sons do. Apparently you three have lunch plans with them…?" he turned his attention back to his daughters, looking for confirmation.

"Oh!" Blossom exclaimed. "Yes that's right, we did! We made plans with them a few weeks ago, before the attack on the gypsy camp and grandpa's dea – then we had to push that back obviously…"

Blossom covered. The death of her and her sister's grandfather was still a raw subject for them to speak about, and all three tried to avoid talking about it when they could.

"O-oh, well then." John muttered, casting a frightened look down at the paper in his hands. "Well girls, maybe you should hold off for just a little while longer… I could just go by myself today and you three can have lunch with the Jojo triplets another time." He tried to convince them desperately.

"Oh no, daddy please let us go!" Bubbles begged, clasping her hands together in front of her in a pleading gesture.

"I'm sick and tired of being stuck in this house! Everyone is miserable here and I want to go out and get some fresh air! Besides, the boys were our childhood friends! It's would be nice to do some actual catching up with them." Bubbles countered.

"Admittedly, it _would_ be nice to spend time with people our own age." Buttercup admitted. "Even if I'm not a fan of them." She added on as an afterthought.

"See? Even Buttercup wants to go. We'll all stick together, if that's what you're worried about papa." Blossom said with a small smile. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Well I—"John let out a defeated sigh. His daughters all had valid points. It wasn't fair for them to be suck inside the gloomy manor any more than they had to be. Besides, they really _did_ need to get out and get some fresh air; perhaps it would lighten their spirits.

"Very well." He conceded. "Meet me in the foyer in ten minutes while I hail a carriage, I suppose we're going to pay the Jojo's a visit."

Blossom and Bubbles grinned at the news and both sisters began to head toward the living room while they waited. Buttercup followed behind them, but the obsidian haired sister hung back a little.

While she was just as desperate to escape the manor for a while like her sisters, she had ulterior motives for wanting to visit the Jojo's.

Butch's warning had been stuck in her head in the weeks since she had last seen him at the reception hall. She had tried to get him to elaborate on what he meant by telling her to stay away from the forest, but he had simply brushed her off before he abruptly left with his brothers.

Buttercup had still been confused about his words of caution, until that one fateful morning when her father had come home; eyes bloodshot, skin almost ashen, and had informed them that _something_ had attacked the gypsy site he had been visiting, and had killed their grandfather, before it disappeared into the woods.

Butch's warning had been put into perspective after that day.

In the week that had passed, Buttercup had tried, without success to find out what her father had seen. She wanted to know what was responsible for vicious assault – to find out, just what exactly was hiding in the woods.

Her father had only brushed her off, and told her what he told everyone: that he didn't know what it was, but that it definitely wasn't human.

That had only intrigued her curiosity more.

 _If I can't get any answers out of dad, then I'll just have to get them out of someone else._

Buttercup thought to herself as she stalked after her sisters, her thoughts turned to Butch as she recalled his almost desperate warning to her.

 _He knows something. I don't know what, but I_ will _find out. It's getting him to tell me that's going to be the difficult part._

Buttercup promised herself as the gears in her mind began to turn; trying to think of a way to get the intimidating man to tell her what was so dangerous about the woods.

Suddenly, Brick's words came back to her.

" _He can't really control himself around a pretty girl, but you've already figured that out."_

Buttercup groaned inwardly. She had an idea. But she didn't like it.

Not one bit.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

"Ah John, girls! So glad you could finally make it up here! We have been expecting you."

"Mojo, thank you for the invitation. I actually have some important matters that I need to discuss with you."

John greeted the stout man with a firm handshake as he stepped out of the carriage, his daughters following behind him, eager to stretch their legs after the cramped ride to the estate.

Blossom looked around the front of the mansion. The massive archway and front gardens surrounding the mansion looked as if they had been thoroughly cleaned recently

"Hellooo ladies." A deep voice cut though her thoughts, causing her to turn toward where the sound was emanating from. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Buttercup stiffen and muffle a groan from her spot on her right.

There, standing at the top of the dark stone steps leading up the mansion's front doors stood Brick, Butch and Boomer.

Boomer was standing perfectly straight at the top step, arms folded across his chest, his face passive; save for the small grin that broke out onto his face at the sight of Bubbles. He offered her a small wave, which the blonde girl enthusiastically returned, a bright smile on her face at the sight of the cobalt eyed male.

Butch was leaning forward against the stone railing, his evergreen irises locked onto the three females in front of him; a crooked smirk was plastered on his face as he leered at Buttercup, who scowled at him in return.

Brick on the other hand was standing behind his younger brothers, leaning up against the massive stone wall. His unnatural crimson eyes glowing slightly as he silently observed his new guests, before coming to rest on Blossom's slim figure.

The auburn haired girl suppressed a shudder as his gaze slid over her. He had a unique way of making her feel insignificant and small just by looking at her. Finally she broke off eye contact with him, finding herself unable to look at his intimidating irises any longer. A twisted grin slowly grew on his face as he sent her a small wink, causing a bright red flush to bloom across her lightly freckled cheeks in response.

Meanwhile John glanced around, looking slightly confused.

"Forgive me for coming across as rude Mojo." He began, "But where are your lackeys? What are their names again – the Amoeba's was it? I thought for sure that they would be out here… tending to their duties …"

Of course, John himself was not interested about the mansion's upkeep. He was more concerned of the whereabouts of the strange looking trio of men that had gotten far too close to his daughters for his comfort, so he could keep them away from his children.

Mojo however saw though the bluff.

"Oh, no need to worry about them John." The ape-like man pacified the taller gentleman. "They don't work here anymore. I suppose one could say that their services here have ended - Permanently."

He shot a glare up toward the front of the house where his sons where lounging. Butch met his father's gaze and simply shrugged his shoulders with a lazy grin on his face. His eyes however, contained a barely concealed rage within them at the mention of the recently departed Amoeba Bros.

Mojo simply narrowed his eyes at his middle child, as he turned around to face his guests once again.

"Well, let's not stand out here in the cold any longer. John, if you will follow me to my laboratory, we can get started. Ladies, I'll leave you in the capable hands of my sons. They'll take good care of you for the afternoon."

* * *

Buttercup glowered across the table at Butch as she stabbed at the leafy greens on her plate.

The onyx haired male caught her gaze and sent her a flirtatious wink along with a wolfish grin before he went back to ripping apart his steak. Buttercup fought the urge to roll her eyes at the sight.

"If you keep scowling like that, then your face is going to be stuck like that permanently."

Buttercup turned to her left where Blossom was sitting, gently picking at her own plate, as the brothers stifled muffled laughs.

"Hush you." Buttercup quietly growled to her elder sister, as she went to back stabbing at the greens that were on her plate.

The six young adults were currently seated in the Jojo's dining room, enjoying a large lunch that consisted of sandwiches, meats, fruits, and salad.

Despite the fact that it was mid-afternoon, the heavy blood red curtains were shut tightly over every window in the large room, and the only available light source was the ancient chandiear hanging far above their heads, casting ominous, flickering shadows around the room.

"So… Our papa told us that we used to come over here often when we were children." Bubbles attempted at conversation. "What did we used to do?"

"How much exactly do you remember of your childhood here?" Boomer asked her gently, masking a slightly nervous edge to his voice.

Bubbles shrugged. "Not much. Blossom, Buttercup, do you two remember anything important?"

"My memories here are pretty hazy." Blossom admitted, shaking her head slightly. "It's probably why I didn't recognize you at first." She confessed stealing a glace up at Brick who only nodded in response.

"Aside from doing cartwheels in the famer's fields outside of town, I don't remember a whole lot." Buttercup grumbled around a mouthful of salad. She narrowed her eyes at Butch. "I get the distinct feeling that we used to fight a lot, didn't we?" she asked the muscular boy across from her, looking for confirmation.

Butch leaned back in his chair and sent her a shit eating grin. "Bingo. We had the biggest rivalry when we were kids. We used to wrestle all the time. I'd win of course." He winked.

Buttercup scoffed. "I'm sure I knocked you on your ass more than enough times."

Butch only laughed. "Sure sweetheart, I'll let you think that, unless of course you want to prove it and take me on." He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "I'll let you take the first swing."

Buttercup roller her eyes but a small smirk was present on her face as she took another mouthful of her salad.

"I'll pass, I'm pretty sure it's not considered polite for guests to win against their guests in a fight." She grinned wickedly, getting a laugh out of Butch.

"Oh, you and me, outside later. I look forward to this!"

"So you really don't remember anything from here do you?"

Boomer interrupted as he gazed at Bubbles gently. The lighter blonde sheepishly shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry. It's going to be a game of catch up with me I'm afraid."

Bubbles shot him a shy smile. "You can feel free to tell me what you remember though, maybe that will jog my memory!"

 _Oh I'll tell you what I remember, but I'll be leaving some parts out._

Boomer thought darkly, as he smiled gently as the pretty girl seated across from him. "Oh yes, I'll fill you in, truthfully you didn't miss much here after you and your sisters moved away. Things were pretty boring here."

"Still are." Brick muttered under his breath, before he wiped his mouth with a napkin and fixated his gaze on Blossom once again.

"Boys, how about we take the girls on a tour of the house? I think they need a little refresher." Brick coolly stated; his piercing red orbs not leaving Blossom's rose ones.

"Good idea big bro, I'll take Butterbabe outside and show her the back-yard and the stables, we did most of our stuff out their anyways."

Butch's grin stretched across his face and his dark green eyes lit up with excitement as he abruptly stood up and moved around the table to where Buttercup was seated, grabbing her arm and pulling her up out of her chair, before he all but dragged her out of the room.

"Hey wait a second, don't I get a say in this – what did you just call me?!" Buttercup's screech of protest fell on deaf ears as she was unceremoniously dragged out of the dining room by the excited man, much to her chagrin.

"Ah -" Bubbles opened her mouth in protest before she was stopped by Boomer.

"Don't worry; he's just excited to see her again. He'll calm down… Sooner or later." The blonde shook his head at the display.

Bubbles nodded, still slightly unsure as she listened to her older sister's protests grow fainter and fainter before a door somewhere at the back of the mansion opened and slammed abruptly, silencing the noise.

Bubbles looked up meeting Boomer's cobalt irises feeling a bright smile cross her cheeks. "Did he say stables?" she asked him happily.

Boomer nodded. "I'll take you out there when Butch and your sister come back if you want." He offered, casing Bubbles's head to nod eagerly.

"Yes please!" She shot him another bright smile that made his heart beat speed up and caused a little bit of colour to appear on his face. He willed it to die down before he stood and extended a hand towards Bubbles.

"That's right - you love animals don't you?" He asked softly as Bubbles nodded once again. "I'll show you around upstairs in the meantime, how about that?" He asked her, as she took his larger hand in her smaller one.

"That sounds nice." Bubbles responded as she stood up and rounded the table. Boomer cracked a grin.

"Follow me Milady." He said with a laugh, as he led her out of the dark dining room, Bubbles's light blue dress swishing quietly as they made their way out.

Blossom watched her youngest sister leave with the youngest Jojo, her blond sister's light voice bouncing off the mansion's walls, as the blue's made their way toward the grand staircase, both laughing at a joke that she didn't catch, before their voices became muffled as they headed up to the second floor.

Leaving her alone with the crimson eyed male sitting across from her.

Blossom turned back around only to see Brick stating at her intently, watching her like a predator hunting its prey.

They sat there, watching each other for a long moment, not saying anything, before a lazy grin made its way up Brick's face, splitting into sharp angles, like someone had cut it onto his face.

"Well. It's just you and me Pinky. I guess we can start with the downstairs."

* * *

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again…"

Buttercup hissed venomously as Butch turned his head to look at her.

"Let go of my arm!"

The raven haired woman commanded firmly, as Butch just laughed once again. Both green clad young adults were currently in the overgrown, snow-covered gardens in the back of the mansion. Butch had his arm looped though Buttercup's, keeping her chambered to him as they walked, Buttercup more or less being dragged along as they went.

"Awe come on Butterbabe. Most women would _love_ to be on the arm of a handsome bachelor such as myself!"

"I'm not on it by choice!" Buttercup protested with a groan, casing Butch to chuckle at the lean girl's discomfort, before coming to a stop in the middle of the garden, causing Buttercup to stop as well.

"This is where we used to play all of the time." Butch informed her, as she glanced around the area curiously, ceasing her attempts to escape his hold on her arm. "Do you remember this?" he asked her gently.

"I – remember _parts_ of it." Buttercup responded after a moment. "Somethings changed though. I remember it being a lot more… well-kept." She frowned at the dead growth and coiled vines spouting out of every visible surface of the yard.

"Did something happen here? This whole place feels different somehow."

Butch seized up at her question. He looked around the overgrown garden before he exhaled though his nose and muttered "Yeah, you could say that."

Buttercup frowned at his response. Something was clearly wrong, but she had no idea what it was. With Butch distracted she managed to wiggle out of his grasp on her arm and take a few steps away from him, snapping his forest green eyes back to her slim figure.

The intensity of his gaze made her hesitate. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite place; an emotion, deep and primal. He opened his mouth to say something to her before he closed it and continued to stare at her - Deep and brooding.

They stayed like that for a while; unmoving and unflinching, even as the cold winter winds blew around them. A devilish smirk broke out on Butch's face when she didn't look away from him. Buttercup shivered, her breath fogging in front of her face. She needed to get this under control; it was starting to become far too intimate for her liking.

She paused as that thought crossed her mind. That's right. There was a reason that she wanted to come to the mansion in the first place. _Answers._

It was a stroke of luck that she and Butch were alone out in the gardens and away from his brothers. If she was going to get any answers out of the muscular young man, this was the best chance she was going to get.

However in knowing that; Buttercup knew that if she wanted to get any answers, she would have to play his game.

Buttercup let a small smile slide across her face, gently running a hand though her long, jet black hair, as she gave the tall man in front of her a sultry look though half-lidded eyes.

"You know… I'm a little cold." She admitted giving him a throaty purr. "Could we continue this conversation somewhere else?"

Butch playfully narrowed his own forest green orbs, smirk never leaving his face. "Sure babe, want to continue this in the sables?" he asked her with a teasing growl, gesturing to a building off to the left of the gardens. Buttercup cringed inwardly at the name but managed to keep a straight face.

"Lead the way." She told him giving him a coy smile.

A sound similar to a growl of approval made its way out of Butch's throat as he moved forward to take her hand in his own. She let him, following behind him as he led her toward the barn - Hoping that she would be able to get some answers out the obsidian haired man.

* * *

"… and this is my room."

Boomer pushed open one of the many dark cherry doors on the second floor of the mansion, to reveal a large room, decorated by many different shades of dark blue.

A king sized bed covered by a navy blue duvet was pushed against the far wall facing the door. Two massive windows were on either side of the bed, their heavy drapes open, unlike the ones downstairs; allowing in the gray winter light from outside. Off to the right of the bed was an old gray stone fireplace that looked as if it hadn't been touched in years. The furniture in the room was crafted out of dark Burch wood, and the ornate, dark-stained wooden walls were covered with artwork; some depicting ancient battles from Europe, and others simply portraying various pictures pf the night sky.

"I would show you the other rooms up here on this level, but they happen to belong to my brothers and my father, and I don't think that they would be all that keen on me invading their privacy." Boomer gestured dismissively to the other doors to the left of his own.

"Your room is beautiful Boomer!" Bubbles breathed as she took a few hesitant steps into the lit room. "Are you an art enthusiast by any chance?" she nodded to the paintings decorating his walls.

"Not really. My father more or less buys these paintings and then realizes that he has nowhere to put them downstairs, so I hang them in here. Otherwise they would just be put in the attic, which is a bit of a waste if you ask me." Boomer explained with a shrug.

"I do enjoy European history though; I suppose that's why I put a few of these in here." Boomer nodded to a painting in a gold frame, depicting hundreds of men fighting one another - spilling enough blood to turn the ground beneath them red - hanging just above his fireplace.

"The Hundred Year's War. That one is one of my personal favourites. It actually lasted one hundred and _sixteen_ years, but regardless."

Bubbles turned to give the lean blonde an apologetic smile. "I've heard about it from my papa, but I'm afraid the details are lost on me. My sister Blossom is the one who is more inclined to know about this sort of subject – It's interesting though!" she added quickly, noticing an embarrassed oink tint spreading across Boomer's face.

"Thanks… How about we talk about something that we are _both_ are interested about?" he asked with a knowing, teasing smirk. Bubbles huffed.

"I said it was interesting." Bubbles defended, ginning cheekily at the lanky blonde man.

"You also promised to fill me in on how we met when we were children. How about we talk about that?" She offered.

Boomer paused for a split second. Swallowing lightly, he coolly reasoned, "I did didn't I? Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Anything really. I feel bad that I don't remember much, but you seem to recall everything. You pick a spot to start." Bubbles smiled brightly at him; lighting up the room slightly, causing Boomer to stare for the briefest of moments. He nodded to his bed.

"Take a seat. I'll tell you what you want to know." He promised her. Bubbles beamed at him as she moved to sit on the navy duvet, smoothing out her sky blue dress as she did so, while Boomer moved to lean slightly against of the windows, watching her.

The lanky man took a moment to compare her to rest of his room. She stuck out like a sore thumb in contrast to the rest of his dark blue room. Everything about her was bright – like a nice summer day – while he was her exact opposite, he was dark and brooding – like a storm.

But god, all other thoughts aside: he had been waiting for her to re-enter his life.

He had waited so long for her to return to Townsville. He had waited for years and years, and now, here she was: in his house, sitting in his room – _On his bed._

He shuddered and quickly moved to stare out the window. Now was really not the time to be thinking about that.

Bubbles noticed him turn away and swallow thickly. She opened her mouth to ask his he was alright, before he cut her off.

"Your father and my father used to be partners, before any of us were born, and when he and your mother still lived in Townsville." Boomer began. "They worked in the lab downstairs for hours on end, and your father would bring you and your sisters here while he worked. That's how we were introduced for the first time."

"What about your mother? Was she here at that time as well?" Bubbles questioned, remembering how her father had referred to the mysterious lady Jojo at the dinner that they had with the boys several weeks prior.

A slightly pained look crossed Boomer's face at the mention of her for the briefest of moments before he nodded. "Yes. She was still here at the time. She didn't leave until a year or two later."

"Why did she leave? Was she unwell?" Bubbles lightly pressed. "You could say that." Boomer shrugged, "Mentally she wasn't the most… stable person I guess you could say."

Bubbles nodded understandingly. As curious as she was to find out more about his mother, she decided to drop the subject for now, seeing how uncomfortable it made the blue clad man.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You don't have to tell me anymore unless you want to. What did we do here when we were together?" Bubbles asked, changing the topic. Boomer shot her a grateful look before he continued.

"Normally when you were here, your sisters would run off with my brothers and go do their own thing. Usually all they did was fight. Butch and Buttercup were the _worst_. Brick and Blossom would more or less insult or try and out-perform the other, but Butch and Buttercup where a little more… physical with their approach, if you get what I'm saying."

"Is that what Butch meant by wrestling?" Bubbles groaned, rubbing her temples with a slender hand. "I didn't actually think he was serious."

"Oh he was." Boomer informed her with a light chuckle. "I remember that he and Buttercup used come back in the house all covered in grass-stains and bruises, screaming curses at each other – or more like Buttercup would be yelling curses and Butch would be too busy laughing. Hard to believe that they were only five with the way they talked to each other." He shook his head, a slight grin etched onto his face.

"What about us?" Boomer cocked his head at her in confusion. "Did we used to fight?" Bubbles clarified. "Seems to me that my sisters weren't all that found of your brothers – were we like that at all?"

Boomer scratched behind his ear thoughtfully as he tried to remember, thinking about the question carefully.

"We… Didn't have the best start," He admitted, speaking slowly, "But we got along the best out of the six of us. We didn't fight like they did. We disagreed at times – but we never fought." He assured her.

"We normally played around the house and out in the front, we never got into much trouble. For the most part, we got along pretty well." Boomer informed the light haired woman.

Bubbles smiled. "I could see that. I wish I remembered more. It sounds like we had fun together… I miss that."

"I've missed _you."_

Bubbles looked up startled by the sudden, emotion-fueled confession, and Boomer slapped a hand over his mouth; breathing hard.

He hadn't meant to say that. Not like _that_ anyways. If this didn't set off alarm bells in her head, he would be surprised.

"What?" Bubbles breathed quietly.

"I – I mean, you were one of my only friends, and when you left it tore me up, you belon- I mean... We were… _Shit."_ The blonde man hissed frustrated as he buried his face in his hands, groaning at his word choice.

"Boomer…?" Bubbles asked hesitantly, rising from his bed and taking a few steps toward the taller man; causing him to slowly raise his cobalt irises to meet her baby blues.

Bubbles felt her eyes widen in surprise as she caught a glance at his captivating gaze. His pupils were dilated to the point she felt as if she were staring into bottomless black pools. His eyes were filled with an emotion that she had never seen on a man before.

Ever so slowly, she moved her right hand up until it was gently resting on his cheek; trying her best to pacify him. Boomer sighed contently at the small contact and his eyelids gently slid shut again, his head leaning into her touch.

"I've just missed you so much Bubbles." Boomer admitted gently, his eyes still lightly shut. "For a while I was afraid you were never coming back."

Bubbles felt her heart soften at the confession. This boy – man, she reminded herself; sounded so lonely. Despite the initial display of affection toward her however, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was keeping something from her. Like there was something he was purposely trying to avoid. She brushed her concerns to the back of her mind.

 _You're just overthinking it._ Bubbles thought to herself. _That's all it is._

"Well… I'm back now. And it looks like I'm going to be staying here for a while." She told him fondly, giving him a soft smile. Boomer returned it with a crooked grin of his own.

"and you have _no_ idea how happy I am to hear it."

* * *

Blossom was making light conversation with Brick as they walked through the dark hallways of the dimly lit mansion; their steps echoing off of the dark marble floors beneath them.

"How come you and your brothers never come into town?" Blossom questioned. "I've only ever seen you that one time. Do you not like the townspeople?"

"Not particularly, no." Brick confessed as he led the slender woman into one of the mansions dimly lit parlors, gesturing for her to take a seat on one of the couches, "But truthfully, they don't seem to be all that found of us themselves."

"Why would that be?" Blossom asked, curiosity quipped.

"Well, I suppose the easy answer is that they're scared of my brothers and myself." Brick responded nonchalantly as he took a seat beside her on the couch, slinging his arm over the back. Blossom noticed that he did so with a slight wince, but chose not to comment.

"Is there a different answer?"

Brick let a devilish smirk ride across his handsome features as he ran a hand though his tangled red locks. "You could say that."

Blossom gave the larger male a slight nudge, "What's the other answer then?" Brick only smirked wider.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Try me."

Brick's blood red orbs shimmered in surprise at the edge in the slight woman's tone. He narrowed his eyes at her as he responded.

"I'm sure you know Townsville to be a rather… tight knit community." He started, pausing as Blossom nodded in confirmation.

"and how they can be god-fearing people at the best of times?" Another nod.

"Well. People talk. We'll leave it at that."

"They spread rumors about your siblings and you?" Blossom wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I've personally never heard any. What do they say?"

"First of all, they are _highly_ exaggerated." Brick began coolly. "People like to run their mouths and once the rumor mill gets a hold of it; it becomes pretty twisted after a while."

A pause. "They more or less talk about my parents and sometimes my brothers and me. Mostly me though."

"Why?" Blossom asked mystified as she subconsciously began to toy with a strand of her thick red hair. Brick took notice and his eyes trailed down to watch her hands as she fiddled with her hair.

"Mostly the way I look. Red eyes aren't exactly common. I used to get called a demon when I was younger by some of the older townsfolk, so I eventually just stopped coming into town altogether. Made my life much easier."

He let out a barking laugh when he caught sight of the hurt look in Blossom's eyes. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it too much Pinky; I used to get called much worse. Demon is pretty tame compared to some of the other names I got called. It never really bothered me much anyways."

"You know, I used to get teased too." Blossom admitted softly, gesturing to her own rose pink orbs. "Pink eyes are even less common then red. When I first moved to Citysville, I used to get called a witch by some of the other children. I tried to explain it was simply a birth condition, but some children can be expressly cruel. There was this one girl…" She trailed off, shaking her head.

"Doesn't matter now. She stopped when we got older; Buttercup put an end to it when it became apparent that asking her to stop wouldn't work."

"What did she do?" Brick asked with a hint of a grin on his face.

"One day when we were about seven or so, Buttercup had enough of her and she got up and actually tackled her to the ground. Normally I don't encourage violence, but it did get her to stop afterwards. In all honesty through, she _did_ have it coming; as if teasing me wasn't enough; she had started to move on to Buttercup and well… She's always had a short fuse." Blossom explained with a tiny grin of her own.

"She made it quite clear from the get go that she wasn't going to tolerate that kind of behavior toward her, so she gave the other girl quite the shock when she jumped on her."

"What happened to the other girl?"

"She's still wary of us to this day. Buttercup made sure of that. But we did end up becoming acquaintances. It didn't help that her father just so happened to be one of my father's patrons – the most generous one at that – so we'd see her rather often. The teasing stopped though, and people got used to my eyes in time."

" _I_ think your eyes are lovely." Brick ginned wolfishly. "Then again I'm also biased, considering my eyes are far from natural anyways."

"Your eyes aren't bad." Blossom murmured quietly. "A little intense, but they're… nice."

"I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't quite hear you? Speak up a little!" Brick laughed teasingly at Blossom's flushed face.

"I – You – Never mind." she huffed as she tried to hid the beat red blush. "They're interesting, I'll give you that."

She frowned. "Still though, just because your eyes are a shade that's less then 'normal', that doesn't give people the right to spread rumors about it."

"You're not very judgmental, are you?" Brick muttered, fixing the chestnut haired girl with another soul searching gaze. Blossom shook her head, causing her long locks to shake gently.

"I don't have the right to be, neither do they." She told him simply.

 _Oh Pinky. You really have no idea._

Brick thought sinisterly as he bit back a sick grin.

 _In the end, they have every reason_ to _be._

"What did we do here as children?" The question snapped Brick out of his dark thoughts and he let an easy smile appear.

"We used to fight." He answered her truthfully. "I had _so_ many nicknames for you. They used to irritate the hell out of you, and that's why I used them." He bit back a laugh when a look of realization came across Blossom's pale face.

"I remember now… Pinky, Red, Leader Girl, Bossy Blossy… To name a few." She crossed hr arms as Brick's broad shoulders began to shake with barely concealed laughter.

"That's some of them – starting to remember a little now sweetheart?" he grinned

"I don't think I ever really forgot; it just got pushed to the back of my mind." Blossom admitted softly. "You calling me Pinky the first time we met helped me to remember a little."

"That one was my personal favorite. Gotta admit, I used to terrorize you with it."

Brick leaned back on the couch, away from her as he took in her whole image, nodding his head in approval.

"You've… changed. Blossomed since the last time I saw you. You look good." He commented her.

Blossom paused, unsure of how to respond. "I – thank you, Brick. That's nice of you to say." She finished lamely, averting her eyes from his broad form.

Brick chuckled, a low, rumbling sound in the back of his throat as he leaned forward to move a piece of her hair away from her face. Blossom stiffed at the contact as her left hand slowly moved to her right sleeve as he got closer to her and her breathing quickened.

"Your hair is really long, have you even cut it since I saw you last…?"

"Don't touch it!"

 _WACK._

A yelp of surprise escaped Brick's throat as a fan was rapped across his knuckles. Blossom drew back, clutching the fan that she had pulled out from her sleeve; a protective look in her eyes.

"OW! Blossom what the hell?" Brick growled as he rubbed at his now red knuckles.

"Language please Brick. Serves you right! Do you have _any_ idea how long it takes me to maintain my hair? Far too long! I hate it when people mess it up!" Blossom cried, still clutching her fan tightly.

"Where the hell were you even hiding that thing?" Brick grumbled sourly, eyeing the fan, making a mental note to burn it when he got the chance.

"That's for me to know and you not to find out."

Brick gaped at the young woman in front of him for a moment before his face broke out into a grin. _There_ was the Blossom he remembered. She still had her fiery attitude and personality to her; it had just been hiding from him.

He smirked. He liked her fire. He had always enjoyed fanning the flames of her hidden temper when he was younger. Getting under her skin and bringing out the more excitable side of her personality was his specialty. He was relieved to know that he hadn't lost his touch.

He loved seeing her angry and flushed; her eyes glowing with furious embers. Admittedly he found that image to be rather attractive. He kept that particular thought to himself, as he stifled his laughter.

"There she is." He chuckled playfully, "There's the girl who I remember. And here I was thinking that you had gone boring on me."

"I'm a lot of things Brick but I can assure you: boring is _not_ one of them."

Blossom hissed at the larger man as she narrowed her eyes at him. Brick was not deterred at her look and offered her a laid-back grin in return.

"That's good to hear. This would be a lot less fun if you were." Blossom rolled her eyes at his statement, but she relented as well and gave Brick a small but genuine smile.

"That reminds me: Where did Butch and Buttercup run off to?" She asked Brick abruptly, causing the crimson eyed man to shrug.

"Outside somewhere I guess. I don't know, maybe they're reacting scenes from when we were five; out fighting each other. God if I know." He responded.

"I hope they're alright. They still haven't come back inside." Blossom noted as she stood up, moving toward a drape covered window to peer out of it.

Brick stood up as well; moving to stand behind her, arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at the smaller female.

"Don't worry about them. Butch isn't interested in fighting with her. If anything he's probably shamelessly flirting with her, or just being a pain in the ass. He's harmless enough."

 _For the most part._

* * *

Butch pulled Buttercup into the large, well-kept barn, slamming the solid wooden sliding door behind them; blocking the cold winds outside, before turning to face her once again, his eyes darkening as they focused on her lean, athletic frame, a half smirk working its way up into his chiseled features.

Buttercup felt a shudder run though her body. As much as she hated to admit it: He was attractive. If only his personality matched his appearance…

"So." Butch let out a low growl slide out of his throat, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Where were we?"

Buttercup faked a playful grin at him, staring at him with half-lidded eyes. "You were showing me the barn obviously, or did you forget already?"

Butch chuckled lowly and moved toward the onyx haired girl, "I had some… other ideas actually. It's been way too long since I was around a fine looking girl like you…"

"You don't say." Buttercup muttered under her breath as Butch placed his large, callused hands on her slender shoulders, brushing back some of her long, wild hair as he did so. She continued to force a smile on her face as he placed a finger under her chin, lifting it so she was looking at his face again.

His cold forest green eyes seemed to darken even more as her brilliant lime green irises met his, and he sighed happily.

"God I've missed you Butters, I've missed you so much. I was wondering when you'd come back to me." He breathed.

"Come back huh?" Buttercup murmured. "Well here I am. Maybe you could fill me in on a few things. My memory of this place is very hazy. What is it that we used to do? Aside from fight apparently." She snorted the last part.

Butch grinned, "When we were five all we did was fight." He informed her, "You hit hard, for a girl. I liked that feisty attitude you had. Such a turn on."

Buttercup suppressed another groan. Clearly this man had other things on his mind aside from simply catching up with her; perhaps she could use it to her advantage.

"Right, well, I have some other questions for you." Buttercup hummed in his ear, standing on her toes to reach his sensitive lobe. A twitch of pleasure ran throughout his body at the sound of her voice next to his ear.

"Ask away." He let out a feral sounding growl as his hands tightened his hold on her shoulders, trapping her in place.

Buttercup winced at the uncomfortable pressure on her bones. She opened her mouth to ask him to ease his hold on her before a low, piercing shriek of a horse tore through the stale barn air behind her, causing her to jolt at the sound, shrugging out of Butch's grasp.

"Where did that come from?" She asked rubbing her ears, "That was the loudest sound I've ever heard a horse make. It must be huge." Butch laughed at her comment before he grinned at her.

"That actually sounded like my personal mount." He informed her, as he brushed past her, beckoning with his hand for her to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you."

Buttercup followed him though the barn before they stopped at the end, and peered into the biggest stall in the barn.

"Come here," Butch gestured to her, bringing her closer to the stall, as he whistled, catching the attention of a massive black shadow in the far corner, "Come say hello to my pride and joy." He smirked proudly as he jutted his chin out toward the stallion.

A massive, pure black horse with a draping mane and tail stuck his long head out of the stall. His dark brown eyes boring straight into Buttercup. His ears were pricked forward in interest of the slender girl in front of him.

Buttercup let out a surprised noise as she took in the dark horse. It had to be the biggest animal she had ever seen. She estimated that it was probably close to seven feet in height. While she herself wasn't an animal enthusiast like Bubbles, she had to admit that the beast was impressive.

"This is Ares." Butch said proudly. "My personal steed; the offspring of a Clydesdale and a Friesian, he's one of a kind. He was a gift from my dad when I was ten, and I helped train him." Butch explained smugly.

Buttercup leaned forward to get a closer look at the stunning horse and began to notice the similarities between the two breeds that had been drafted into the dark steed. The massive creature had the size of a Clydesdale with the hoof size to match, but had the colouring, mane, tail and feathered hooves much like a Friesian did.

"He's beautiful." Buttercup murmured as she slowly placed a hand out in front of her for the magnificent horse to inspect. The stallion moved his head forward and blew a gust of warm air at her open palm before he pushed his massive head into her hand.

Buttercup cracked a grin the action and began to rub the stallion's head and neck fondly, making Butch laugh at the sight.

"Unbelievable." The muscular man shook his head in disbelief. "He typically doesn't like other people touching him. Hell, he won't even let my own brothers go near him, and yet he's taken a liking to you." Butch stifled a chuckle. "He really does take after me: he'll bend to a pretty girl"

At that Buttercup remember the reason why she had Butch take them to the barn in the first place. She had to get some answers to her questions, now seemed as good a time as any.

"Yes, about that…"

Without taking her eyes off Ares or pausing her actions she cleared her throat and began to talk quietly in a throaty purr.

"When I saw you last; at my uncle's funeral, you told me to stay out of the woods. What did you mean by that?"

She carefully slid her bright green eyes to where Butch was leaning up against the stall, his shadowy green irises narrowed at her question as he huffed.

"It's exactly as I said: Stay out of the woods." He grumbled. "They aren't safe." He finished lamely.

"Why aren't they safe?" Buttercup pressed, struggling to keep her voice sultry. She was still stroking Ares neck however she had turned her attention to Butch. She saw that his face had taken on a guarded look, and way more than likely confused at her sudden interest in the forest and not him, as she had been leading him to believe.

"Because they just aren't. Never have been, and never will be. You wouldn't know because you've been gone from Townsville for so long, but they're dangerous. Anybody who's lived here long enough could tell you that."

Butch scoffed dismissively, but he was starting to glare at the raven haired beauty, as if he was starting to see past her flirtatious illusion. Buttercup panicked internally. She needed a clearer answer that that, but Butch was starting to catch on to her façade. Letting an open smile adorn her blood red lips, she moved away from Ares and toward Butch, causing the tall man's posture to relax slightly.

"But, what about them is dangerous?" She murmured as she ran a hand across his barrel chest, as Butch closed his eyes, letting a pleased sound escape his lips in the process. Buttercup felt the sound rumbling deep in his chest as her hand passed over it again in a soothing motion.

Butch cracked an eye open to look down at the girl as a small frown appeared on his handsome features. "Can't tell you that." He murmured gently.

Buttercup stopped her teasing for a moment. This was going nowhere. He was stubborn – even against her charms which other men fell for – but she was determined to get him to crack. Sucking in a quick intake of breath, she pressed herself completely against his muscular frame, causing Butch to freeze up and release a shuddering breath though his clenched teeth.

Tipping her head up, Buttercup looked him dead in the eye, as she placed a hand behind his head, gently pushing his head toward hers. His pupils were completely dilated and his breathing had speed up to a rapid – almost inhuman – pace.

Buttercup grinned wickedly to herself. She had him right where she wanted him.

Or so she thought.

"Why can't you tell me?" She whispered into the shell of his ear, her other hand running though his spikey jet black hair. "What's so wrong with them?"

Butch was panicking. She was so close to him – dangerously close – and they were alone. When she had first started making advances toward him he had been more then pleased, thinking that she had finally come around – But then she had started asking questions about the woods and what lurked in them – and he was snapped back to reality.

 _She can't know. Not now, not ever, if I can help it._ He hissed to himself. She didn't need to know what ran rampid though the forest at night. He had thought that the attack on the gypsy camp would have been enough to deter her from the subject, but clearly she wanted a more detailed answer, as he assumed that her father hadn't given her one.

The more questions she had asked, the more Butch had realized that she was playing him. _That cleaver little minx._ He grinned viciously. And to think that she almost had him.

 _Almost._

But then she had gone and completely invaded his personal space. (not that he minded of course) Staring up at him with those gorgeous, half-lidded green eyes – that he fanaticised about more then he cared to admit – and making those _delicious_ sounds out of her slightly open ruby red lips. His body threatened to break out into a spasm at the close contact, and he felt what little self-control that he possessed starting to slip away as she moved their heads closer together, whispering into his ear – her words not even registering in his foggy brain – and that was his breaking point.

His line of reasoning snapped.

Driven by pure anomalistic instinct, he let out a possessive growl and grasped her hands in his own, turning them around and roughly pinning her into the barns wall with her hands on either side of her head, the force causing the wall to rattle slightly and a surprised gasp to escape Buttercup's lips.

"W-what are you doing?" She shrieked, panicked by the almost feral look in Butch's eyes. His grip on her hands tightened to an almost bruising point. She struggled helplessly against his hold on her, spitting curses as her long, dark hair jerked around her framing her face.

He had her completely trapped against the wall, his massive frame blocking her only escape. Buttercup began to thrash as Butch lowered his face to rest in the crook of her shoulder, his warm breath fanning against her skin as he laughed darkly at her predicament.

"Oh Sunshine, don't think I didn't know what your real intentions leading me out here where." Butch grinned as he breathed in her sent.

"Don't go thinking you can play me for a fool babe, I may have a soft spot for you, but I know what you're doing, and let me tell you right now: It won't work."

"If you knew what I was doing all along, then why won't you tell me what's so bad about the forest?" Buttercup snapped back, furious at the raven haired man. "I want some answers!"

"Why hasn't your daddy dearest told you anything?" Butch shot back, not lifting his head from his spot on her neck. Buttercup became still as she paused her attempts to escape from Butch's hold, silently thinking about his question.

"Trust me when I say that strange things like what happened at the campsite happen here all the time hun. Maybe not to that scale, but this hasn't been the first time people have gotten hurt like that. That's why Townsville has certain rules regarding the woods."

"Rules?" Buttercup breathed as he eyes widened in confusion. "I never heard any rules about the woods – and get your head off of my neck!"

Butch chuckled as he moved to straighten up, still not relinquishing his hold on the smaller girl. He grinned sadistically down at her exposed form.

"That's probably because you haven't been into town all that much. Go on, ask any of the people there, they'll tell you all about th—"

He froze suddenly in the middle of his sentence. His evergreen orbs locked on to Buttercups right forearm. Because her arms had been pinned on either side of her head, the sleeves of her dark green dress had slid down some, reveling smooth, lightly tanned arms. His attention was directed to a discoloured, almost circular scar on her right arm.

"Oh my god." Butch muttered under his breath as his pupils dilated once again. Carefully, as if she were made of glass, he released her right appendage and traced a finger over the discoloured markings that ran from the top to the underside of her toned arm.

"What? _What?"_ Buttercup hissed furiously as he continued to trace the small scars. She followed his gaze down to her arm and she looked back up at him, more confused than angry.

"Those are scars." She informed him, speaking slowly as if he were new. "I've always had them there for as long as I can remember." The statement caused Butch to snort.

"I know they're scars sweetheart. Anyone could tell you that. I'm… amazed that you still have them… You're still marked…"

His eyes met hers then and Buttercup tensed up. There was something so familiar about the look he was giving her. Buttercup squinted at him, more confused than ever before as an old memory that had been pushed to the far reaches of her mind, fought for her attention.

Suddenly something in her mind clicked into place and she gasped as a memory from fourteen years prior was pulled up in front of her. She clutched at her arm as the old scars seemed to sing with sudden pain.

She remembered now. She had forgotten years ago how exactly she had received the oddly shaped scars on her arm, but she had never brought it up.

But she remembered now.

And she remembered who was the one responsible for giving them to her in the first place.

She locked eyes with Butch – brilliant lime green boring into a deep forest green – one pair wide with sudden realizations and the other pair narrowed, as a knowing smirk crossed his face.

"Remember now Sunshine?"

Buttercup was silent for a moment longer, unable to tear herself away from those haunting evergreen orbs that used to terrorize her as a child. A heartbeat passed between the pair of raven haired adults. Then Buttercup's face twisted into a look of pure rage.

" _YOU!"_

* * *

 _March 28_ _th_ _1815, Jojo Estate, Buttercup Marie Utonium, age 5._

 _A small child with short black bobbed hair ran though the estates well maintained gardens, pushing her short legs into a sprint as she dashed out of the maze of trees and out into the bright, open clearing ahead._

 _Reaching the middle of the clearing she planted both feet firmly on the ground, letting a triumphant grin spread across her pale cheeks as she whirled around to face the direction that she had come barrelling out of._

" _HA!" she cried into the maze, grin still apparent on her graceful features. "I won! You lost! Now you gotta do what I say for a whole week!"_

 _The maze in front of her was silent. No movement came from within its shadowy reaches._

 _A small frown began to tug at the corners of the raven haired child's mouth and her grin disappeared is she inched her way closer to the maze._

" _Butch?" Called the girl curiously. "Butch, where are you? Did you get lost? I know you're slow like a snail, but you're not that slow!"_

 _Silence answered her._

 _A hint of nervousness began to creep up on the child, and she moved a little closer to the maze's exit._

 _Where was he? Had he made a wrong turn somewhere? No, that couldn't have been it; he lived here for Pete's sake, he ran the maze every single day. If she was able to make her way out, then he definitely could._

 _Still though…_

" _Butch…?" the small girl called out once again – only to get roughly tacked to the ground from her left._

 _She hit the ground hard, letting out a surprised scream rip out of her throat, before her instincts kicked in. Letting out a furious snarl, she planted her foot into her assailant's chest, flinging him off her thin frame._

 _She hissed in discomfort as she proceed to ease herself up off of her now bruised ribs – only for a familiar weight to press itself down onto her back once more._

" _Hi Butterbutt, looking for me?" A teasing voice laughed in her ear._

 _Buttercup groaned at the voice as she struggled even harder against the weight pinning her down into the soft green grass beneath her._

" _Butch you idiot! Let me up!" she commended, her bright green eyes blazing angrily, as she turned her head to the side to glare up at him._

 _A small boy with short jet back hair in messy spikes and dark forest green eyes stared back down at her, a smirk present on his face as he sat on her back, leering at the small girl pinned under him._

" _Naw, I think I'll keep you here. I like it better this way." He smirked cockily, as he leaned forward to grab at her thrashing arms and pin them behind her back, holding them still with his own._

" _Ha ha, very funny. Now get up. You're crushing my ribs and I think you tore my dress again." Buttercup snapped, kicking her legs in a futile attempt to get him off of her back._

" _Again? What is this, like the third time this month?" Butch grinned savagely down at his female companion. "Probably. My mama is going to scold me again thanks to you!" Came the slightly muffled reply._

" _Well that's too bad. For you." His grin grew wider._

" _You're an ass."_

 _He tutted, "Language pet. You're supposed to be a lady."_

" _And you're supposed to be a gentleman. If I recall, gentleman don't sit on ladies." Came the snappy reply._

 _A grin. "I'm a Baron toots; I can do what I like."_

" _You're not a Baron yet."_

" _and you're not a lady either so we're fair."_

 _There was a moment of silence between the two dark haired children, before Buttercup sighed. "Can you please get off me now?"_

" _Naw."_

" _WELL WHY NOT?" She exploded._

" _Cause."_

" _Cause why?"_

" _This is the way it's going to be in the future."_

 _The raven haired girl stiffened at his words. Turning her head to look up at him once again she noticed that the grin was gone from his face and was instead replaced by a solemn frown._

" _Come again?" she asked hesitantly, a bit unsure of where the conversation was headed._

" _We're going to be together in the future so you might as well sit back and accept it."_

 _Buttercup gaped up at the obsidian spiked boy in disbelieve. She couldn't believe her ears, what was she hearing? What was wrong with this boy?_

" _No we're not!" she protested in shock, "I can't be with you! We'd fight every day! I don't like you and you don't like me!"_

" _Sure I do." He responded. "It's why I do this!" his grip on her arms to tighten in response, causing her to wince in pain._

" _If this is your way of showing that you like me, then you're even weirder then I thought you were." She gasped as his knees dig into her sides._

" _Listen here Buttercup." He growled suddenly, his mouth next to her ear. "I_ know _that we are going to be together. I can_ promise _you that."_

 _The small girl began to struggle underneath him again as she listened to him. Something was not right here. She knew she needed to put as much distance between herself and him as she could. Maybe he was having another one of his episodes. It didn't feel like it though, he wasn't twitching or shaking, and none of his other ticks had manifested themselves yet, in fact he was completely still on top or her; a rarity for him._

 _She then felt him starting to push her right sleeve up to her elbow and she began to panic._

" _Hey! Whoa, what are you doing?" she shrieked, trying to free her arms which were still locked in his grasp._

 _He growled at her. "Be still." As he raised her forearm up, twisting it at a painful angle._

" _Ow! Butch! Get. OFF!" the raven haired child snarled as she desperately began to free her arm from the painful grip he had it in._

 _Suddenly, a sharp, searing pain enveloped her forearm, casing the girl to scream in shock as Butch muttered something darkly. Twisting suddenly to her left she ripped her arm out of the boy's grasp and managed to wiggle her way out from underneath him, holding her arm as she did so._

 _The boy landed on his back with a groan and slowly began to sit up as Buttercup inspected her forearm._

 _An ugly wound that went from the top of her arm to the underside of it stared back at her, taunting her. Bright red blood dripped from several of the small holes that had been punctured into her delicate skin._

 _It took the small girl a moment to figure out what it was; she went from staring at the fresh wounds to her male companion, then back to the bleeding marks on her arm, before her bright eyes finally rested on the boy a foot away from her; still sprawled out on his back._

 _His cunning forest green eyes met her blazing lime ones and he gave her a sadistic smile – showcasing his white, red stained teeth._

 _Buttercup gasped. "You bit me." She murmured. Then she raised her voice._

" _YOU_ BIT _ME!"_

 _She screamed at him, furious. The two were known to play rough, and while he had done some rather twisted things to her in the past, he had never_ bitten _her before. This was new. And Buttercup didn't like it._

" _Obviously." Butch shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, clearly unbothered by the whole ordeal._

" _WHY DID YOU BITE ME YOU PHYSCO?" Buttercup roared at him. "This… this is not okay… I – I need to go." She muttered shaking her head at the boy who had still not risen from his spot on the ground._

 _He smirked at her again, letting her see his red-stained teeth, which looked oddly closer to fangs._

" _See you later."_

 _Buttercup let a shudder run though her at his words as she took off still holding her arm, running back towards the Jojo mansion as fast as her small legs could carry her, looking for her father._

 _There was something so wrong with that boy. That feral, almost deranged look in his eyes scared her more then she cared to admit._

 _She bolted off toward the mansion, as she desperately tried to forget what she had thought she had heard Butch growl into her skin as he had dig his sharp teeth into her arm._

"You belong to me."

* * *

Snapping back to the present, Buttercup locked eyes with the man standing in front of her. A split second passed between them, before Buttercup pulled her arm back and hit him in the jaw as hard as she could, cause Butch yelp in shock from her blow.

"How _dare_ you." She hissed venomously at the muscular male, who was rubbing his jaw and staring at her with a look of shock plastered on his face.

"How _dare_ you bite me Butch Jojo!" She snarled at him, her hands clenched into fists by her sides. The shock faded away from Butch's face and was replaced by the tiniest of smirks at her outrage.

"Why?" She spat. "Why did you bite me?"

Butch paused for a moment, as he pondered over his answer. Before he let a relaxed smile spread over his rugged features.

"What can I say? Five year old me was a bit… Hyperactive." He chuckled slowly. "I'm amazed you still have the scars. How hard did I bite you?"

"Hard enough." Buttercup seethed. "I remember you saying some pretty insane things that day too. It's still hazy and I can't remember everything, but I know for damn sure that you bit me."

"Won't lie, yes I will admit to biting you." Butch nodded; the slightly possessive look in his eyes still present. "I had a reason to though."

"I don't want to hear it." Buttercup snapped throwing her hand up in front of his face – effectively silencing him. "Let's just forget about it and move on. You seem to be _slightly_ saner from what I can remember. As long as you don't bite me again and keep a respectful distance, then we should be alright."

 _Oh Sunshine, don't you worry, I won't need to bite you again. You still have my mark after all._

A savage grin threatened to split across Butch's face at the though and he struggled to keep it down.

He composed himself after a moment before looking her dead in the eyes and playfully raised his right hand in the air. "I Butch Jojo, Baron of Berserk – I mean Townsville – do by solemnly swear not to bite you – Buttercup Utonium again."

He cocked a dark brow at her. "Good enough for you Sunshine?"

"Baron of Berserk? What kind of a title is that?" Buttercup crinkled her nose as she tested out the name.

"It's a nickname I've had since I was younger."

"Apparently."

Buttercup sighed tiredly as she ran a hand though her thick dark mane, before sticking out her right hand for a handshake. "Yes, that's good enough for me. And stop calling me that."

"Done." Butch grinned broadly, enveloping her hand with his large one, squeezing it. "I'm still going to keep up with the pet names though."

"You're a hopeless case." Buttercup grumbled with a roll of her eyes, as she began to squeeze past Butch's massive frame.

"So, I take it we're done here then?" Butch asked as she began to walk toward the barn's front doors, stopping to give Ares another pat on the neck.

"Yes." Buttercup responded curtly as she began to open the doors, allowing a gust of cold air to enter the barn.

"Aw, too bad, things were just starting to get fun." Butch grinned as he came up behind her, helping her move the heavy sliding door. "Gotta admit, that was pretty… intense, you coming on to me like that." He winked.

"Don't read too much into it Jojo, I was only trying to get some answers out of you." Buttercup growled, before turning to face him.

"You never answered my question: What is in the woods?"

Butch sighed, rubbing a hand down his face tiredly. She was persistent, he's give her that much. He decided to humor her a little

"Truthfully, no one knows. The woods here are extremely thick and dark, even during the daytime. It makes it almost impossible for people to explore deep within them. Whatever is in there, it's strong enough to kill a man if provoked, that's why everyone who is smart stays indoors after dark."

"and… No one knows what this thing is? Buttercup asked astonished as she stepped outside with Butch.

"No." he grunted as he turned back around to shut the door behind them. "If any attacks happen, they're always at night, no one can get a clear look at it."

He looked down at her. "If you don't believe me, try going into town and asking the people about it. Hell, they'll be able to tell you some pretty wild stories about attacks in the past."

"This has been going on for a while?" Buttercup asked shocked.

"Close to a decade now. Yes."

Buttercup was floored by the new information. Her shocked expression must have been apparent on her face because Butch sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her back to the mansion.

"Look, can you please just listen to me when I tell you to stay out of the woods? They're not safe. Hell the whole town can vouch for me."

Buttercup stole another look at him. He looked right back at her. There was no laughter in his dark green eyes; instead they were cold and serious. Buttercup shuddered from the intensity of his gaze.

"…Fine." She muttered sullenly, before she elbowed his side.

"What did I say about 'respectful space?'?" She asked, causing Butch to stifle a laugh.

"Fine, sorry, here." he relented, allowing his arm to slide from her shoulders. "That's better." The onyx haired woman nodded her approval.

The taller man fixed her with a playful smirk. "Listen, Buttercup." He said lowly, as Buttercup turned her attention to him, "I actually do feel bad about shredding up your arm. Allow me to make it up to you." It wasn't a question.

"What do you have in mind?" Buttercup asked, slightly curious.

"Do you ride?" Buttercup shook her head.

"Not allowed. In Citysville we have people who will take us where we want to go; that and there isn't much room for horses in that city anyways. If I could I would though." She admitted.

"Well, you seemed to like my horse, and to be fair, he seems to be pretty taken with you, so how about you let me take you out riding next week? He needs a good work out."

Buttercup stopped walking, almost casing Butch to trip. She shot him a genuine smile. "If this is your way of getting back in my good graces, then you're off to a good start."

"Is that a yes then?" Butch asked.

"That's probably the best idea you've come up with so far, so that is a yes." She confirmed.

"Yesss." Butch hissed in victory.

"But I swear to god, if you try and pull anything, I _will_ end you."

The sound of Butch's laughter carried though the bitter December wind, echoing off of the snowy, rolling hills surrounding the estate.

* * *

"So those were the Mayor's final words you say?"

"Those were his exact words to me before he died, I swear it."

John and Mojo were currently in Mojo's personal laboratory. It was formally the basement of the mansion; however Mojo had turned it into his workspace years prior. John glanced about the large candle lit cellar. Not much had changed since he had last stepped foot in the lab, although…

"I see you've taken to writing your equations out on the walls."

John nodded to the wall closest to him. Mojo seemed almost startled as he turned his head to glance in the direction that John was facing.

"Oh, yes. Paper does not do it justice any more. I needed more space for my thoughts. The walls were the next best item I could use."

John nodded, "I see." He stood up and made his way over to study the markings on the walls. The closer he got he began to realize that the marking he had seen weren't equations at all, but instead symbols. He frowned as he touched one, tracing its outline. He was almost positive that he had seen these markings somewhere before, he just couldn't recall where…

"John if you may, I will have to ask that you refrain from touching my markings. I can't have them smudged or tampered with in any way."

Mojo's cold voice cut though the stale air likes a knife, causing John to flinch. "Sorry Mojo, They're very interesting. Are you studying them at the moment?"

"You could say that yes." Mojo cracked a sharp grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "If you will, we have some more pressing matters to attend to."

"Ah… Right. Back to what my father-in-law was telling me… the night he died." John muttered as he took his seat across from Mojo again.

The smaller man shifted in his chair and gave John a nod of encouragement, "Please continue John."

"Well, when I went to the camp grounds, I ended up speaking with three gypsy woman about the pendent that was found on Eugene when he died." John restarted.

"and what did they say?" Mojo asked, though John could tell by his casual demeanor that he wasn't very interested in that part of the story.

"They… ended up telling me that the pendant's original purpose was to 'ward off evil' as they put it. " John paused, wondering if he should mention to Mojo that the three young women that he saw were actually his _nieces._

"Well a good lot that did for poor Eugene – no offence intended John – I told you gypsy's are superstitious at best, what with their wild tales of monsters and the like – they are nothing more the fantasies and they should not be trusted." Mojo snorted arrogantly.

It was at that moment that John decided not to reveal that particular titbit of information to the ape like man.

"Yes… I suppose so…" John trailed off uncertainly. "It was after I finished my meeting with them that all hell broke loose."

"Yes, do tell me about that." Mojo lent forward with an almost sick look in his bloodshot eyes. "What exactly happened?"

"I – for the record, I still don't know just _what_ I saw that night – but it was… singled-handily… the most terrifying thing I ever saw in my life." John stuttered, as he was dragged back into the massacre by his thoughts.

"Try and describe it John." Mojo soothed. "So far as anyone knows, you're the only person to get a some-what clear look at the beast and _live."_

John gulped and nodded his head shakily.

"It was, ah… Big, no, that doesn't do it justice. It was _massive._ The creature had to be at least seven or eight feet tall – Oh another thing, _It could stand on its hind legs!"_ John hissed. "What kind of an animal do you know of that can do that?"

"A bear." Mojo replied instantly. John shook his head.

"See now that's what I though too, but then I got a closer look at it, and let me tell you: that was no bear." John shook.

"It had the height and size of a bear, but its face… It was more canine like. It was definitely wolfish." John nodded to himself. "I've never seen anything like it before."

Then he paled again, scrunching the material of his pant legs in his clenched fists. "But there wasn't just one Mojo. There were _three_. Those things are out there, lurking in the forest. I truthfully don't feel very safe knowing that. Of course, you're the only person I've told all this to. I couldn't even tell the police what I saw, what would they think of me then? And I'm certainly not going to tell my wife and my daughters until I know for sure what these things are." He rambled.

"It's probably best if we keep this information between ourselves." Mojo agreed nodding. "It's all terribly confusing right now as it is. We wouldn't want people to fly into a panic… Well, no more than they are now at least." He chuckled humorlessly.

"So then," he paused, fixing John with a stern look. "What do you think it is?"

John shuddered. "I don't know. I really don't. My best guess is that it some sort of new, undiscovered species – a hybrid perhaps. It would be about to explain the size of the creature, but that's all I can think of so far…"

"Do you think that this creature is responsible for the other killings before the gypsy massacre?" Mojo asked softly.

"Without a doubt." John responded firmly.

"You haven't seen what I've seen. Those things are capable of dismembering a man, nearly a whole camp. They have to be what's behind the killings… Behind what happened to my brother." He whispered softly.

A thick silence filled the dimly lit room before John took a small breath. "It would make sense too. When I went to morgue, the keeper told me that he had believed it to be an animal attacking the victims; he just wasn't completely sure because he couldn't match any of the wounds to one animal. But if this really is a new, aggressive predator that I've seen, then that's why he couldn't match it to any of the animal moulds that he had in his collection."

"It makes sense." Agreed Mojo. "Think about it: an exciting new breed lurking in the woods, waiting to be discovered." He made an exaggerated gesture with his hands.

"A _dangerous_ new breed." Corrected John. "I don't know if this is anything to get excited about. These things are in the woods just outside of town – I'm concerned about people's safety."

"John, need I remind you that the woods have always been dangerous? Everyone here knows that. That is why you don't find many people outside their homes once night falls. It is even worse now, since the killings are gradually getting worse."

"About that... How, long did you say they have been happening for?" John asked hesitantly.

"Well let's see, the first documented case was close to ten years ago now I believe. It was a little girl – Julie Bean I believe her name was – She was found next to the woods, torn apart. The morgue couldn't figure out what had done it, so they ruled it as foul play. That was the first one. Mind you of course she had apparently snuck out far after dark… It could have happened to anyone. Such a shame though, her parents where heartbroken…"

John turned his head away in disgust. He couldn't help but think what would have happened to his daughters if they had stayed in Townsville for longer: would the same thing have happened to his children? He shuddered to think of the possibilities.

Of course, it certainly didn't help him now. He was stuck in Townsville, forbidden from leaving until his wife's illusive cousin was able to come and take over the manor for them – Provided that she could in the first place – and with those _things_ stalking the forest and the whole town taking up arms…

"I don't mean to pry John, but would you tell me one more time what the Mayor told you before he died?

John jolted as Mojo's voice cut across his thoughts. The older man ran a hand though his salt and pepper hair as he recalled what his father-in-law had told him before he died.

"Before he died, he managed to tell me that he was able to look over the deceased records and he noticed that all of the killings happened on the night of a full moon."

A heavy silence filled the room once again as both men pondered over the odd killing pattern.

"Well this is… Unheard of." Mojo admitted, tapping his chin with a long finger.

"I've never heard of a creature with a hunting pattern quite like it." John agreed. "He also mentioned that it wasn't every full moon either. Apparently there were months without a single incident. He described it as being quite sporadic." He added as an afterthought.

"I see." Mojo muttered, as he hopped off of his chair and made his way over to a nearby lab table. Clearing a spot on the table off, he carefully selected a thick file from a stack of folders nearby and set it on the table.

"I was able to gather the deceased records from the police a few days ago. They have agreed to allow as full access to the bodies if need be, though I hope that it will not come to that. They are quite desperate to figure out what is transpiring here. They must be; if they are asking for our help." Mojo informed the taller man, gesturing to the heavy file.

"This here is the records of all of the victims; I will look over the death dates myself tonight and see if what the mayor said is true. If all of the deaths were committed when a full moon was present, then we may be on to something here."

He paused suddenly as he tilted his head up toward the ceiling, listening carefully. John paused as he also gazed toward the ceiling. Sure enough, the sounds of footsteps echoing above them were heard, along with faint voices traveling though the mansion's vents.

Mojo let a sigh escape him as he turned back around to face John.

"We've been down her for close to three hours I believe. Perhaps we shall save the records for another day. Go collect your daughters John, it's getting late and I think that we all deserve some rest."

* * *

"I'm sorry I didn't get to show you the barn Bubbles. We'll definitely visit it next time. The horses will still be here, promise."

Boomer rested his head on the carriage window sill, gazing up at Bubbles with his stormy blue eyes.

Bubbles only giggled as she placed her elbows on the sill from her stop inside the carriage next to Buttercup. "Don't worry about it! Next time I come here, you can show me all of your horses and any other animals you have hiding around here!"

Boomer winked at the golden haired girl as he reached up to grasp her hand and place a chaste kiss on her knuckles, causing a light pink tint to spread across her cheeks. Buttercup groaned at the sight.

"Bye for now Bubs." Boomer grinned with another wink. "I really have missed you. I'm glad that your back, hopefully we'll be able to spend more time together from now on."

"Yeah! Same goes for you Sunshine!" Butch called out from his spot, farther back on the mansions porch by Brick, who rolled his crimson eyes at the remark and sent a knowing smirk aimed at Blossom.

The auburn haired girl returned his smirk with a tiny grin of her own, as Buttercup shot Butch an underhanded bird, casing the obsidian spiked man to break into a fresh wave of laughter.

Boomer stepped away from the carriage and went to go stand by his older brothers, sending a small wave to Bubbles that she enthusiastically returned. John, who was sitting on Blossom's other side noticed this and frowned, unsure of what to make of it.

"John." The deep voice of Mojo floated though the carriages open window. John leaned over to peer at the stout man standing beside the carriage.

"I will see you back here either tomorrow or in a few days' time I assume?"

John nodded. "Yes. If I can make it up here tomorrow then I will. Perhaps we'll be able to figure out what to do about this in time."

Mojo grinned. "Good, very good, also girls?" he pointed to the sisters, who also peered over the sill to see the short man. "You three are more than welcome to come back here whenever you like – either with your father or by your own choosing. My sons are very happy to see the three of you again." He informed them.

"Thank you Sir Mojo, that's very kind of you." Blossom nodded her thanks. "I'm sure my sisters and I will be more than happy to take you up on that offer."

Across from her Buttercup flinched. It did not escape Blossom and she frowned, nudging her middle sister with her foot, gaining her attention.

'What's wrong?' she mouthed. Buttercup shook her head. 'I'll tell you later.' She mouthed back before turning her piercing lime gaze to the floor.

Blossom frowned but decided not to press it. Instead she turned her attention back out the window and waved to Brick as the carriage began to move away from the mansion and back down the winding path towards Townsville. The tall red-head caught her eye and waved back, watching as the carriage disappeared from sight.

Mojo snorted irritably as he made his way up the front steps of the porch to where his sons were – all three watching him carefully with their intense, dark eyes as he approached.

"You boys." He grumbled to them as he made his way to stand beside them. "What am I going to do with you three hrm?"

"What dad?" Brick rumbled, glaring down at his father. Mojo stared back up at his eldest, his own bloodshot eyes meeting his son's intimidating crimson ones. Inwardly Mojo smirked proudly. Brick could strike fear into the hearts of anyone with his tall, muscular form and unnatural red eyes. That and his intelligence was unrivaled by anyone. He was the perfect son in stout man's eyes. If he hadn't been his father, Mojo knew that he would have been terrified by the young man in front of him, who was only starting his twenties none the less.

The short man cleared his mind of the secret praise he held toward his eldest as he cleared his throat.

"The professor saw you that night. He saw all three of you."

Brick raised an eyebrow as he shrugged his shoulders. "So? You were the one who said to go take care of the gypsy's. It was a miracle in itself that we were able to follow though with that plan in the first place. You also mentioned that he would be there. I'd be surprised if he _didn't_ see us to be quite honest."

"No, he _saw_ you, and by that I mean he got a good, long look at one you. Enough to know that you are not some rouge bear, or massive breed of dog. He does not know what you are exactly, only that you are not natural."

There was a pause between the brothers as they shot each other dark looks. Normally the only people who managed to get a clear look at them, ended up dead moments later. The professor had apparently gotten quite lucky.

"What do you want us to do?" Boomer asked very quietly.

Mojo shrugged. "I leave that up to you. However I can only keep him in the dark for so long before he starts to get suspicious. I advise that you do something about him while he and his family are stuck in Townsville. We can't have him getting too nosy. The townspeople are starting to become quite the handful after the last attack; and I do not want an _actual threat_ bothering us in the meantime."

He stepped back, away from his sons as he fixed them with a stern glare. "Think about that." He finished as he turned and made his way back inside, leaving the boys to their thoughts.

"No." Boomer growled as soon as Mojo had shut the heavy door behind him.

"Bro…" Butch began, only for Boomer to cut him off.

"I am _not_ touching the professor. The girls have technically already lost two of their family members to our hand. I'm not going after their _father_ of all people." Boomer spat.

"If we do, we're not going to kill him Boom." Brick rolled his eyes, "We aren't that savage, besides, we still need him."

A pause. "and we're not fully to blame for those, not the second one at least."

"Can it, both of you." Butch snapped irritably. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now we've got more important things to worry about."

"Like what?" Brick challenged.

"Like the fact that Buttercup carries my mark. That's what."

Both red and blue clad brother stopped to stare at their middle sibling, who was running a hand though his wild black hair, his eyes so dark they were almost black.

"No way." Boomer muttered. "When did you have time to do that?"

"Didn't have to. It was already there."

"From when you bit her all those years ago?" Brick gaped. "It's still there? I would have thought that you'd need to re-do it."

"Apparently not. I screwed up her arm pretty good." Butch growled, a possessive look returning to his eyes. "I want her back." He snarled, his teeth becoming dangerously sharp.

"Hey, calm down. You'll have her soon enough." Brick warned, placing a hand on his middle brother's chest, pushing him back. "Patience puppy. Stay calm; she'll be back, so long as you keep it together. Don't blow it now."

"She _mine_." The harsh growl tore through Butch's lips. His canines were still sharp but his eyes were closed in an effort to calm himself down. "That's my territory. I want her back here so I can keep an eye on her."

"I feel the same way with Pinky, really I do, but we have to gradually real them in, and that takes patience." Brick rumbled. "It doesn't help that they live on the other side of Townsville, and we aren't exactly welcome there…" The red head ran a hand though his tangled red locks as he thought.

"What do you make of all this Brick?" Boomer asked quietly, his cobalt blue eyes drifting off to stare into the distance where the girl's had disappeared.

Brick let out a tired sigh. "I don't know. Clearly we need to find a way to keep watch on the girls without us actually going into town ourselves so Butch here doesn't lose his mind, and at the same time we need to watch the professor and make sure he stays in the dark for as long as possible – and if we need to…"

Butch suddenly opened his eyes. "I have the solution." He said solemnly.

"Do we want to know?" Boomer asked hesitantly as Butch began to smirk.

"There is a way for us to be in town, watching the girls and their dad without us actually being there." Butch assured him. "The pawn is expendable. So Boomer, you don't have to worry about touching the professor because: we aren't going to."

Brick and Boomer looked at Butch as he disappeared inside the mansion only to return with his traveling cloak on. He shot them both a twisted grin, and both brothers finally made the connection.

"No," Brick muttered. 'You're not actually thinking about bringing _him_ in to do this particular job are you?"

Butch only grinned wider.

"Get my horse boys; I'm going to pay an old friend a visit."

* * *

 **Bellum manor**

As soon as the carriage had pulled away from the front of the manor, Blossom took Buttercup and Bubbles by the arm and dragged both girls inside, past their confused father.

Calling out a hello to their mother and grandmother who were making their way down the stairs, Blossom pushed both of her sisters into the manor's study, shutting the door behind them.

"Alright Buttercup," Blossom sighed, turning around to face her raven haired sister. "You've been pretty quiet since we left the Jojo's, what's wrong?" she asked gently.

"I've noticed that too." Bubbles pointed out, "Ever since you came back in with Butch you haven't said a whole lot – did he do something to you?" her baby blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"No, well – yes – he did – but it was a long time ago." Buttercup stumbled over her words, groaning as she tugged at her long hair. Noticing the puzzled expression on both of her sister's faces she sighed and began to roll up the sleeve on her right arm, revealing her scars.

"Remember these?" she asked, as both sisters nodded in conformation. "Those are old." Bubbles remarked. "I thought you forgot about how you got them?"

"I did. Butch gave me a little reminder." Buttercup grumbled as Blossom's face lit up with realization.

" _He_ gave those to you?" she asked in disbelieve, Buttercup shrugged in response.

"He bit me." She clarified. "Don't know why, and I don't really care to find out. All I know is that his psychotic five year old self decided it would be a great idea to chomp down onto my arm for god knows what reason. Hell, he seemed pretty surprised himself that the marks stayed after so long."

She shuddered as she remembered the outright possessive look that had flooded Butch's eyes the moment he had laid his eyes on the scars on arm, and how keen he was on keeping her close to him afterward.

She sighed as she brushed the thoughts from her mind. "Then I allowed him to try and make it up to me. Next week he said he was going to take me out riding or something like that. I still don't know if that's a good idea or not."

"At least he's trying to make amends with you." Bubbles pointed out. "That's a start, _and_ you get to go riding you lucky girl!" she giggled, causing Buttercup to roll her eyes fondly at her younger sister.

"I'm sure that if you batted you eyelashes at Boomer he's be _more_ than willing to take you riding Bubs, I've see the way you two interact with each other. Though I have to admit, he's got a pretty gorgeous stallion." She mused.

Blossom chuckled gently, before her small smile dipped into a tiny frown. "Just be careful Buttercup. If he does anything let us know immediately. I know you can take care of yourself – but let us help if you need it."

Buttercup shot her older sister a playful look. "I've handled guys like him before. He's not that much different. But thanks for your concern."

She snapped her fingers suddenly. "That reminds me; I actually managed to get some answers out of Butch regarding what happened at the gypsy campgrounds!"

Both of her sisters stared at her in shock.

"What – what did he say?" Blossom whispered, as she and Bubbles moved closer toward her. Buttercup drew both of them in and began to speak in a hushed tone.

"He wasn't very clear; he only told me that things like that have been happening for a long time now. He said the attacks always happen at night so nobody really knows what is doing all of the killings exactly. Apparently whatever it is has the townspeople here terrified enough that they have all these rules surrounding the woods."

"What kind of rules?" Bubbles whispered, a nervous edge creeping into her voice.

"He didn't tell me exactly, all he said was – "

 _ **KNOCK KNOCK**_

The sound of loud knocks, almost pounding on the front door of the manor started the girls. Blossom moved toward the study's door and swung it open as her father passed her with a baffled expression on his face.

"Who could that be?" he muttered as he passed by his daughters. He turned towards them noting their presence beside him.

"Stay in there while I check who it is." He told them softly as he moved to the front door.

Sucking in a breath, the ageing man pulled the door open slowly as Sara moved to join him at his side.

"John!" a loud, booming voice echoed through the foyer, as a big man in a white business suit and white fur traveling cloak stood in the doorway with his arms spread wide.

The man was large and wide as opposed to john's tall and thin form. He had a thick red beard adorning his face and curly red hair underneath a white top hat. In his left hand he held a black walking stick encrusted with gold on the hilt. All and all, he had a very extravagant appearance, allowing anyone to see that he was a wealthy lord.

"Kingston?" John asked in shock, "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Citysville trying to pass that new law for the banks?"

"Oh that's all said and done." The large man boomed with a dismissive wave of his hand as he moved though the doorway and into the manor, "It got passed a few days ago, shame that you weren't here to see it, I took everyone out for drinks after! It was a good day."

"I'm sorry I missed it." John replied as he took the gold encrusted cane from the intruding man. "Please do come in, I'm sure you traveled a long way to get here… Why are you here do you mind me asking?"

"Well, my best scientist has been gone for close to three weeks longer then he originally said that he would be, so naturally I had come down here and make sure that nothing happened to him in his absence." Kingston winked at John as he removed his fur coat.

The red bearded man removed his top hat and placed it on the hat rack by the door, before turning around again and taking note of Sara.

"Sara my dear! How are you? This is a lovely home you have darling, I'd also like to extend my apologies about your father. I only found out a few hours ago when I first got here. I can understand why you have to extend your visit for a bit longer." He rambled.

Sara managed a weak smile as he took her hand and pressed a light kiss to it. "Hello Kingston, it's good to see you as well. Thank you for your condolences, I appreciate it very much. How is your wife? Is she here?"

"Oh Queenie is doing just fine!" The large man boomed with a smile. "She's not here with me; she's back in Citysville looking after the mansion. Personally I don't think she's like it much here anyways. She's more of a city girl."

He looked up and twisted his head around the room. "Where are your delightful girls? Are they not here as well?"

At that point Blossom opened the door to the study fully and walked out to meet the new guest, Buttercup and Bubbles tailing behind her.

Kingston's beady brown eyes landed on the three approaching girls and a wide smile broke out on his face.

"Ah there they are!" he boomed as he moved forward to give each of the three girls a hug and a kiss on the forehead, "How are my little beauties hrm?"

"We're fine thank you." Blossom responded with a tight-lipped smile. "I must admit, we're surprised to see you here. I didn't think that you traveled this far out here."

"Usually I don't Blossom, but I had to check on how your father was doing!" Kingston rumbled fondly. "Besides, I actually just ended up buying some property just on the other side of Townsville! It's this lovely old manor that was falling into ruin so I'm going to do some repairs on it – and by that I mean that I'm here to oversee the repairs." He laughed loudly.

"Oh, but good news girls! I didn't come here alone! My darling daughter insisted that she come along with me to see the country side! She heard that you three had left the city and she's been ever so lonely without you girls, so I just had to take her with me! After all, I can't say no to her!"

Buttercup bit back a groan as a scowl of disdain quickly spread across her striking features. "Please don't tell me he brought her." She muttered. "Please say that he didn't bring _her_ of all people."

Kingston moved back toward the still open front door and called out to an unseen person. "Sweetheart! Come on in and say hello to your friends!"

A second, much smaller person appeared from around Kingston's massive frame. The girl was dressed predominately in yellow, standing out against the pale whites and grays of the manor. Freckles dotted her cheeks as curly red hair – almost brown – fell past her shoulders in waves. Beady brown eyes squinted unkindly at the sisters as an unpleasant smirk spread across her painted red lips.

"Oh no." Buttercup groaned as she slapped a hand to her forehead. "He brought her."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Utonium sisters. Long-time no see girls." The high-pitched, falsetto voice trilled shrilly.

"Princess."

* * *

 **Townsville Penitentiary, Located on Cliff-face hill, half an hour outside of Townsville**

Butch moved quietly behind the prison guard, as the stout, balding man read off of his small clipboard.

"Forgive me Sir Jojo but do you mind me asking _why_ it is exactly that you want to see this particular inmate? " The guard asked, turning his head around to give the intimidating man a slightly nervous look.

"Sir Jojo is my father, just call me Butch." He grumbled as he eased a relaxed smile onto his face in an attempt to sooth the guard. "This guy happens to be an old friend of mine. How high did you say his bail was again?"

"Well, this bloke isn't the type of guy you want to be friends with." The guard sighed, tapping his clipboard again, glancing up every so often to check the numbers on the cells they were passing. "His bail is high enough. If you ask me it should be higher. It doesn't matter if the charges against him were labeled as 'accidental', as far as I'm concerned, he still did it."

Butch frowned slightly at the rambling guard. "That remains to be seen."

The guard let out another sigh before he stopped in front of a cell with the number 34 on it.

"Well, here he is: Inmate number 333406291, Ace D. Copular. He's all yours. Are you sure you don't want any supervision…"

"Thank you but that won't be necessary." The obsidian spiked man replied. "I've known Ace for a long time. He won't try anything with me. If he does, I'm more then capable of handling him."

He crossed his arms over his barrel chest as a small frown began to play on his lips. The guard swallowed thickly upon seeing the large biceps on the young man's arms ripple at the motion.

"Well, call if you need anything then. Let me know whenever you want to leave."

The portly guard stuck a key into the lock and turned it, the heavy bared door swung open with a loud creak, causing some movement to be heard from inside the dark cell.

"Up and at 'em Copular, you have a visitor."

"Now? Jesus Christ its fuck o'clock in the evening, who the hell wants to see me now?"

A scratchy Italian-New Yorker accent sliced though the musty air in the cell, accompanied by a groan of protest. The guard wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"Quite the mouth on that one. He's not the best conversationalist. Have fun." He grumbled as Butch stepped inside the cell, swinging the door shut behind him and locking him in.

Butch rolled his eyes at the sounds of protest coming from the cramped cell's cot that was pushed up against the wall. Scanning the dark room, he spotted a chair facing the cot and moved to sit in it, kicking his feet back and lacing his fingers behind his head, waiting for the lanky man on the cot to sit up and face his direction.

"Who the hell are you and what the ever loving fuck do you want." The accented voice hissed, slightly muffled from the pillow the man was using to stuff over his face.

"'Low Ace. It's been awhile."

The man – Ace, froze at the deep rumbling voice, and slowly moved the pillow down to stare at the muscular youth who had made himself at home in his cell.

"Butch? Butch Jojo, is that _you_?" the lanky man asked in disbelieve as he rolled over to face the dark man. His forest green eyes glittered as a small smirk made its way up his face.

"The one and only." He grinned as he eyed the lanky man across from him. "How are you doing Ace?"

"Oh I'm doing just _dandy_ thanks for asking. The food in this shit-hole is _divine."_ The man snarked as he moved to stand up, allowing Butch to get a good look at him.

The lanky man had to be somewhere in his early to mid-thirties. Long matted black hair fell onto his bony shoulders. His skinny frame was covered by pale, bleached skin that hadn't seen the sun in years. His most noticeable feature however was his eyes. The black irises were surrounded by pink sclera instead of white, as if he had gotten soap in his eyes that hadn't cleaned out properly. Ace had always claimed it was a flaw in his genetic code, and that he had inherited the strange colour from his mother's side of the family.

Ace grinned, allowing Butch to see several gold fillings in his teeth. "So what brings the young Baron down to see my sorry self?"

"I got an offer for you."

Ace placed a hand to his heart in mock astonishment. "No, you don't say? I figured it was something along those lines. You probably wouldn't have come down to see me otherwise."

"True. But I have an offer you can't refuse."

Ace snorted. "and why the hell should I help you out? You left the gang, in the most violent manner possible. You turned Grubber into a handy-cap _and_ shanked Big Billy in the spine. What the hell man? We were family. You don't do that to family. "

"You wouldn't let me leave. I warned you would happen if you didn't let me leave on my own terms. They got in my way and that's what happened to them." Butch responded coolly, leaning back in his chair, "At least the rest of you were smart. Be grateful that's all I did."

"I still kinda hate you for that." Ace admitted scratching his chin, "At the same time I _was_ impressed. I honestly didn't think that a sixteen year old kid who came from a rich family could actually pull that shit off. Boy did you prove me wrong."

"I warned you beforehand that you have no idea what I'm capable off." Butch growled, setting his feet down of the cold cement floor. "Now, back to my offer…"

He fixed Ace with a cold look that made the older man shudder inwardly. As much as he didn't like to admit it, Ace was scared of the kid in front of him. He had raw, unmatched power in him, he had proven that when he tried to leave the gang for good.

He swallowed his nerves and managed to smirk at the younger man. "Well go on then, I'm listening."

"I'll get right to the chase. We need someone to help look after the estate."

Ace grinned, there was a catch, and he could feel it. "and…?" He probed.

Butch sighed. "I have someone who needs to be watched over. I can't do it myself, if I could, believe me I would."

"Ohhh." Ace grinned with sick delight. "So you need me to off someone eh? What are you going to do? Break me out of here only to send me back to this hellhole a few weeks later? That's low Butch, even for you – "

"I don't need you to off anyone." Butch snapped, interrupting him. "I honestly need someone to watch over her…"

"Oh so it's a _GIRL."_ Ace hissed, rubbing his hands together, chuckling. "Little Butch got himself a girlfriend? How precious, that's something I need. I haven't been laid by a woman sinc-"

Ace didn't see the hand wrap around his throat until it was too late. Butch slammed him up against the unforgiving stone wall, pinning him by the neck as Ace scratched at his arm.

"Let's make one thing very goddamn clear right now." Butch seethed, squeezing down on his neck tighter.

"This girl is _mine_ and mine alone. I need someone to be my eyes and ears and tell me what's going on around her. If you so much as put a single finger on her, I will personally _rip you apart!"_ Butch roared.

"S-sure Romeo, w-whatever you say!" Ace wheezed as his face began to turn purple. "C-can you please put me down?"

Butch released his hold on Ace's throat, causing the pale skinned man to slide down the wall, clutching at his neck, gasping for oxygen.

"Jesus Christ Butch, that's one hell of a grip you got there." He chocked.

"Do we have a deal Ace? I'll pay off your release bail and spring you, if you agree to watch over my girl and report to me about what's going on in Townsville."

"I don't have much of a choice here do I?"

"Not really. You've still got what? Ten years left here?"

"Eight and a half. Not that it makes much of a difference."

"Do we have a deal?"

Ace fixed the muscular male with a sarcastic look. "Do you need to ask twice? Yes you have a deal. Get me out of here and I'll be your little spy or whatever the hell you want me to be."

Butch grinned savagely. "That's all I wanted to hear. You're making the right choice here Ace."

"Not like I had much of one to begin with." The lanky man shot back. "But beggars can't be choosers and I've spent too much of my time in this shit-hole as it is."

"Again, you're not wrong." Butch smirked triumphantly.

"So, who is this chick that I gotta watch? Can you give me a name to work with?"

"Oh trust me; you'll know her when you see her. She's impossible to miss." Butch responded nonchalantly, examining his nails. "Another thing, you'll also be keeping an eye on her sisters. They too are off limits, my brothers will be collecting them shortly – so don't even _think_ about making a move on them either."

"Holy shit these girls must be drop dead gorgeous if they have the infamous Jojo brothers wrapped around them like this."

Butch made a sound somewhere between a snort and a laugh. "You got that right."

The intimidating male eyed the pale skinned inmate for a moment longer before he held out his hand for him to shake.

"So let's be clear: I bail you out, you work for me and my brothers. Deal?"

Ace flicked his strangely coloured eyes between Butch's own forested orbs and his outstretched hand for a moment before he placed his own bony hand in Butch's and gave it a firm shake.

"Done. You have a deal."

"Good. I'm giving you a chance Ace. Do _not_ make me regret it."

* * *

 **Authors note:** _and so begins the first of many flashbacks. So far there are roughly 10 planned out for Lycan, though as the story progresses there may end up being even more… I probably had the most fun writing out Buttercup's flashback! She is the ultimate queen of snark and I had so much fun typing out her exchange with a younger Butch! Too bad it ended so badly…_

 _Now we are able to see how the girls interact with the more 'human' side of the boys. It's not all smooth sailing for them, and there are many troubles brewing just underneath the surface. Only time will tell if they will be able to get along with each other._

 _God the Blues were so sweet in this they gave me a cavity. In the best way possible of course! The Reds are a little stiffer, but Blossom is gradually opening up to young master Brick. As for the Greens… Clearly they have some issues that they have to work out – to put it mildly._

 _Ace is a complete potty mouth. He's a man after my own heart and while he isn't a good person, his dialog is enjoyable to write. He and Butch have a deal with each other now, but as you shall soon see with Ace, he has his own special way of doing things…_

 _And now Princess gets to join in the chaos. She will definitely make things interesting for the Utonium sisters; already Buttercup is making plans to avoid her at all costs… Princess is going to turn into a compete nightmare, this much is certain._

 _Once again I would like to thank everyone who has left a review or favorited Lycan! Your continued support means a great deal to me, and really encourages me to keep on going!_

 _Thank you all so very much!_

 _Stay amazing lovelies,_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	7. Rumor has it

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _The rating of this story is a_ _ **High T**_ _for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned._

 _Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners._

 _The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages._

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Rumor has it**

The girls stood side by side in a silent stale-mate with the new girl standing in front of them.

Bubbles's baby blue eyes were flitting from Princess to her older sister's nervously as she anticipated their reactions. Buttercup openly showed her displeasure. Her face was shadowed by barely concealed annoyance, while Blossom's face remained passive – calm and collected as usual.

Princess's mouth tipped up into a smirk that resembled a sneer as she eyed the triplets with distain.

"Well? Not even a hello? I was expecting a bit of a warmer welcome." Princess stated snidely as she placed her hands on her hips, blowing a piece of curly hair out of her face.

"What are you doing here?" Buttercup growled menacingly at the yellow clad girl; moving forward slightly with her fists clenched at her sides to emphasize her point, before Blossom's hand shot out and grabbed her forearm, preventing her from moving any closer – a silent warning.

Princess cocked an amused eyebrow at the display.

"Well. Someone is in a feisty mood today. What's wrong _Butterball?_ It almost seems like you're _not_ happy to see me."

"I'm not-" Buttercup was roughly jerked back by Blossom, who had still not taken her eyes off of Princess, effectively cutting her retort short.

"I'm sorry Princess. Do forgive my sister, she's had a… Interesting day today and it's thrown her into a bit of a foul mood." Blossom soothed coolly as she squeezed Buttercup's arm tighter. Buttercup winced at the iron grip her chestnut haired sister had on her forearm and she sighed irritably; knowing what Blossom wanted.

"Yeah… Sorry Princess. It's been a really long day for me. A certain someone had me remember a few things from my childhood that I would have much rather have _not_ been reminded of."

On the other side of the foyer next to Kingston, John frowned at his middle daughter's words.

He was aware that she had taken off with Butch while he was down in the basement of the mansion with Mojo; but he didn't know what they had talked about. Worried thoughts began to cloud his mind. What had the intimidating boy – no _man_ told her? He opened his mouth to ask her to clarify what she meant, before he was interrupted by a shrill voice.

"Oh? So you three have friends here do you? I didn't see anyone in town that looked anywhere near our age – I'm assuming that they are our age right? That's a relief to hear. Maybe it won't be so bad in this droll place after all." Princess sniffed arrogantly.

"I wouldn't call them 'friends.'" Buttercup muttered sullenly, dropping her bright green eyes to the floor, "More like… acquaintances, if that."

"Friends, acquaintance's, what have you." Princess waved her gloved hand dismissively. "More importantly: who are they?" she pried intently. "I want to know if these girls will be valuable assets – I mean… people to know around these parts."

"Well, first off they are definitely not girls." Bubbles chimed in softly, making Princess's beady brown eyes flick over to the youngest Utonium sharply. Bubbles flinched but continued.

"They're three boys our age; triplets like us actually – they live just outside of Townsville at the Jojo Estate." She informed the curly red-head.

Princess's eyes lit up at the information.

"Boy's huh?" She mused with a slight grin on her face. "Tell me, are they quite… wealthy?" She asked, earning varying looks of surprise from the adults in the room.

Buttercup simply rolled her eyes. "Are you, or are you not seeing that one Duke from Megaville? I thought you and him were getting along famously. Are you seriously implying what I think you are?"

Princess shot an annoyed look at Buttercup for mentioning the other man's name.

"Please Buttercup; you can't be _that_ behind can you? I broke things off with him a while ago… besides, it's always good to have… allies in different places, isn't that right daddy?" She asked, turning around to face her robust father.

Kingston chuckled fondly. "That's right sweetie. That's the first order of business: make connections!"

He elbowed John good-naturedly as he beamed proudly at his daughter. "I taught her well. She's going to make a fine business woman one day. She's already trying to create new business partners!"

"I don't quite know if your definition of 'business partners' and her version of 'business partners' are on the same page." John muttered disgruntled.

"Hrm? What was that? Did you say something John?"

"No sir, nothing at all. She'll make a fine business woman one day."

Buttercup simply scoffed and whispered to Bubbles and Blossom lowly. " _Business partners. Sure. Right. That'll be the day. More like she just wants a rich spouse so she can lounge about all day and steal his money-_ "

"Sorry, what are you saying Buttercup?" Princess asked sharply, her voice taking on a low growl as she turned around to face the green clad girl again, fixing her with another sharp glare, causing the obsidian haired girl to roll her eyes.

"Nothing important, don't worry. Good plan though, it's very beneficial to have 'business partners' in a 'droll' place like Townsville. I applaud your executive decisions."

Princess's lightly freckled face flushed red with rage. "Why you little-"

"Sara my darling, do you know what the time is?" John asked loudly, cutting across the quickly approaching fight.

"It's a quarter after seven my love." Sara responded with a hint of amusement as she caught the desperate tone in her husband's voice.

"Quarter after seven? My goodness, have we really been here for that long?" Kingston boomed in surprise.

Turning to his daughter he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Prinny sweetness, we need to get going now, we still have some trunks to unpack. Say good bye to the girls for now, we'll come back and see them again soon."

Princess's face was still flushed with rage as she glared at the triplets furiously. She inhaled quickly and exhaled though her nose, before tuning to stare up at her father with a smile etched on to her features.

"Alright daddy." She agreed; her falsetto voice back in place instead of her low snarl from earlier. She gave a mock curtsy to the sisters, smirking at them from underneath her curled hair, causing Buttercup's scowl to increase.

She stood up and shot another wicked grin to them, before turning around and proceeding to walk back over to where her father was collecting his coat and his cane from a flustered looking John.

"Oh ladies, do tell me when you're going to visit these mysterious boys again, I'd _love_ to meet them."

"Well that sounds nice doesn't it? How about it John? Do you mind if my Princess accompanies you and your daughter's to this infamous estate next time you go?" Kingston questioned John with a curious look on his face.

"Well, I really don't see why not – I don't know why she's so keen on meeting them… They aren't the best people." Jon muttered the last part of the sentence before locking eyes with Kingston.

"If she really wants to come then that's fine with me. I won't be heading up there tomorrow through, I was thinking about going into town with my daughters. The day after is when Mojo is supposed to contact me with what he's discovered from the files – I'll have to inform you on what's going on here at a later date." He added, catching the puzzled expression on his patron's face.

"If you would still like to join us Princess then I'm sure that it would be alright with Mojo – girls, did you want to come as well?" John asked hesitantly.

Buttercup tensed at the question as she unconsciously grasped her right forearm where the scarred over puncture wounds were. "I… I'll think about it." She muttered as she discreetly rubbed at her arm.

Bubbles shrugged with a tiny smile as she responded, "I'll go. Boomer is quite nice; I wouldn't mind spending some more time with him, he's good to talk to."

"And you Blossom?" John asked, turning to his eldest.

"I – sure, why not." Blossom sighed.

"Wonderful then, it's settled. John, you may take my Prinny up to meet these 'lords' of Townsville. I think it would be good for her to be introduced to some of the locals here. I don't know how long we'll be staying here for after all – you can tell me what's going on around these parts at a later date. I'm sure there is a good reason why you've extended your visit here for so long."

Kingston nodded to the thinner man who could only nod in return.

"Yes… I defiantly have a reason for staying as long as I have. I think you'll be very interested to hear what is going on here Kingston – it's nothing like I've ever seen before…"

Kingston furrowed his brow as he listened to the quiet admittance, but simply nodded his head again in conformation, as he draped his fur coat over his shoulders and opened the front door of the manor.

"Well then, you'll have to tell me all about it next time I visit here then – and John?" the large man called over his shoulder, sparing one last look at his top scientist.

"I would be interested in meeting this 'Mojo' character at some point in time. Do you think that you could arrange a meeting? I'd also like to meet his sons at some point as well."

"Y-you want to meet the whole Jojo family?" John stuttered. "Why?"

Kingston shrugged. "He sounds like an interesting man, and my darling seems to be very keen on meeting his sons. I think it would be beneficial to at least see them in person. You will discuss the possibilities of a meeting between us correct John?"

The cold edge of a professional business man had begun to creep back into Kingston's deep voice as he eyed John slightly; casing the thinner man to bite back a sigh. As much as he didn't want his patron and former lab partner to meet, he knew better then to argue with the man who happened to pay his salary. If Kingston wanted something, he got it. This was no exception.

"When I see Mojo next I'll let him know who you are and that you would be interested in meeting him. Something tells me that he'd be interested in meeting you as well." John responded levelly.

Kingston beamed at his favourite scientist submission. "Very good John, we'll be in touch. I'll let you know when the renovations to the manor we purchased have been completed, and we'll have you and your family over for tea."

He smiled brightly at Sara and tipped his top hat to her. "Sara." He turned and repeated the same gesture to Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles. "Ladies." The robust man straightened and gently nudged Princess, who had not stopped glaring hatefully at the trio of sisters in front of her, and called out to her as he made his way thought the open front door, "Come now my Prinny, we need to be going, say goodbye to the girls for now, you'll see them again shortly."

Princess broke her spiteful glaze off of the girls and let out an arrogant huff, as she wrapped her traveling clothing around herself tighter; before following after her father toward the still open door.

Just as she was about to step out into the freezing winds, she turned around and shot an almost sinister smirk at the sisters.

"Yes. I'll be seeing you three _very_ shortly indeed."

And with that, the yellow clad girl slammed the solid wooden door shut behind her.

* * *

The Utonium family stood silently in the foyer still starring at the now closed door, not saying a word. It was absolutely silent for a few moments before Buttercup broke the tension.

"What the _hell_ is _she_ doing here?" Buttercup spat venomously, seething with a barely contained fury.

"Language." Blossom murmured to her onyx haired sister, catching a slightly amused look from their mother. Honestly, Blossom was amazed that Buttercup had been able to control her temper for as long as she had. Princess had a way of getting under Buttercup's skin and riling her up in ways that no one else could.

When it came to dealing with Princess, Buttercup was like a storm: her rage built and built and built, until she snapped and went off in an impressive and awesome display of provoked (but righteous) fury.

Hurricane Buttercup had arrived.

John shot his enraged child a withering look. "I'm just as surprised as you are. Really. I didn't expect Kingston to travel all the way out here and purchase property. I'm even more surprised that his daughter came with him."

"The little wrench should have just stayed in Citysville – far, _FAR_ away from us." Buttercup gnashed her teeth as she clenched her fists so hard that the skin on her knuckles was beginning to turn white.

"That was the one thing I liked about this place – I didn't have to see _her_ pompous mug almost every single damn day!" Buttercup almost screeched, as she began to yank at her long raven locks.

John cast a slightly frightened look over to his second eldest. "Goodness Buttercup, what did she even do to you three to offend you so badly? …You never did tell me, even after all these years."

"What _hasn't_ she done to us is the better question." Buttercup moaned dejectedly as she rubbed at her temples, frustrated by the surprise appearance of her and her sister's childhood tormenter.

"She's only tormented Blossom about her appearance to the point that it made her not want to leave the house; and then that pretentious brat has the bright idea to move on to _me_ and try and mock me about _my own eyes_ , just because they're a different colour of green then normal – that is until I… made her understand that I wouldn't be having any of it."

Buttercup cracked the tiniest of grins as she thought back to the moment when her younger self had all but tackled Princess to the ground after a particularly nasty comment about her blazing green eyes; yelling and pulling on her curly hair – spitting profanities and demanding that she apologise – not only to her, but to her elder sister as well.

Buttercup jerked her head toward her younger blond sister. "She never really got to have a go at Bubbles – I made sure of that – but she's been after me ever since."

"O-oh well then if that's the case, then why are the three of you friends with her?" John asked, honestly confused by the confession.

"Trust me dad, it's not by choice."

"What Buttercup means is that we know that Mr. Morebucks is your best patron, and is the one who keeps funding your experiments." Bubbles interjected, as she tried to bite back the laugh that was threating to escape her throat from her darker sister's sarcastic comment.

"It's also common knowledge that Mr. Morebucks is wrapped around Princess's little finger, and that if we don't play nice with her, she could just as easily tell him to stop funding your work and ruin your good name papa. So if dealing with Princess means that your work keeps getting paid for by him, then we'll do it without hesitation." Bubbles explained to her father with a small smile.

"Girls…" John's eyes softened as he gazed at his daughters fondly. "You don't have to do that! If she's truly making the three of you unhappy, then the last thing that I want for you three is to be around her! I honestly didn't think that she was that bad. I was aware that she was spoilt, yes but…"

"Papa its fine." Blossom soothed as she sent her father a relaxed smile.

"We've been around her for so long now that we know how to handle her. She can be… frustrating to deal with at times, but when we were younger she was a thousand times worse. She's mellowed out. Slightly." Blossom added after a brief pause, catching the exasperated look that Buttercup sent her way.

"I don't know –"

"Please trust us papa, we know what we're doing." Bubbles intervened, "Princess is more than aware of this fact as well. It's sort of a mutual understanding between us: We deal with her attitude, and go on outings with her to keep her satisfied – and she keeps quiet and doesn't interfere with Mr. Morebucks funding your work. It's a trade-off."

John allowed a small smile to grace his exhausted face at his daughter's explanation. His daughters were wonderful. The things that they were willing to do for him were truly astounding sometimes. He truly was a lucky man to have them has his children. In the end all he wanted was the best for them. He wanted them safe and happy – which was why he hadn't wanted to come back to Townsville in the first place. Especially not with those… _beasts_ terrorizing the woods at night…

"Right then!" John spoke up loudly as he quickly tried to remove the visual of what he had seen at the campsite from his mind. "Girls, I don't think you have been into the heart of the town yet. Why don't we all go down tomorrow and grab some lunch?"

Wide smiles broke out on his daughter's faces and John knew he made the right choice.

"That would be nice, aside from that one day we have been into the town." Blossom states, "Even then we only got to look at a few of the shops, we didn't end up going for very long."

"I think that it'll be nice." Bubbles chimed in with a bright smile, "What do you think Buttercup?"

A nod of confirmation came from the onyx haired girl, signalling that she agreed.

Bubbles squealed happily and John managed a tired grin. "Excellent, there used to be a pub by town hall, right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of town that served nice drinks and food. I don't know if it's still there, but we'll take a trip down that way tomorrow and see. Sara my love, any complaints?"

Sara just shook her head, causing her red curls to bounce gently at the motion. "None at all dearest, have fun and – " She lowered her voice an octave as she lent toward her husband, signaling for him to do the same.

"If you do take them to a pub, keep an eye on them. Most of the people here are decent souls, but some of the men at the bars can be rather aggressive. If they find out that our daughters don't have suitors…"

"That won't happen because I won't let them go near our girls." John hissed forcefully. "I won't let anything happen to them. Not my daughters." He growled firmly, casing Sara to crack a smile. Her husband was such a protective father when he needed to be. It was one of the traits that she loved most about him.

"I know." She assured him gently, placing a hand on his tense shoulder. "I just thought I should warn you anyways." She turned to her daughters and offered them a small smile.

"Dinner is ready girls, go wash up and come join us when you're ready. I think that Grandma is going to join us tonight." A tiny frown appeared on her face as she mentioned her depressed mother, before exhaling softly, brushing a stray curl out of her green eyes.

"Mama? Are you going to come into town with us tomorrow?" Bubbles spoke up gently. Sara met light blue eyes of her youngest daughter and shook her head. "No I don't think so. I'm still worried about Grandma, she's still not eating properly and I don't want to leave her until she improves a little." Sara admitted.

"I'll come into town with you and your father a different day, but for right now, let's just focus on having a nice dinner tonight." She looped her arm though John's as she led him out of the foyer and into the living room, turning her head to call over her shoulder: "Go wash up, we'll meet you in the dining room." Before she turned the corner and moved out of sight, leaving the sisters alone in the foyer.

Blossom let out a tiny sigh, "Well let's go clean up a little ladies, if Gran is going to join us for dinner tonight, we want to look presentable for her."

"Not that she'll notice anyway." Buttercup scoffed quietly, "Ever since Grandad died, she hasn't been right in the head."

"Well depression will do that to you." Blossom responded with a sad sigh as she led her younger sisters toward the downstairs bathroom, "I feel horrible for her; she and grandpa were together for over _fifty years._ I can only imagine what's going through her head after losing the man that has been with her for over half her life.

"I have a feeling none of it's good." Buttercup muttered darkly, as she and Bubbles followed Blossom into the large bathroom, flicking on the switch as she did so.

Blossom let out another soft sigh as she leaned over the large sink to turn on the brass taps, pushing her sleeves up to avoid getting them wet from the spray of the warm water. "Well… at least going into town tomorrow will be a good change of scenery," she began as she peered over her shoulder to look at her younger siblings. "and we can finally get some answers."

Both Buttercup and Bubbles froze simultaneously. "Are you implying what I think you are Bloss?" Buttercup murmured as she rolled up her sleeves as well. Blossom nodded in conformation.

"I'm just as curious about what papa saw in the woods that night. So far, no one is willing to talk about what happened that night at the camp. I _need_ some answers. This… _Thing_ that you mentioned Buttercup – whatever _it_ is – killed our uncle and is technically responsible for the death of our Grandfather as well. So far, you're the only one who has gotten any type of answer to what this _thing_ is."

"Not really." Buttercup protested. "Butch told me the bare minimum. He didn't seem too keen on talking about it. Hell, no one does apparently. No one has even _seen_ this thing – clearly at least – how do you expect to get any answers?"

"Well if we're going to a pub tomorrow I'm sure there is bound to be some locals who are more than willing to share some stories about this thing with us." Blossom countered. "Brick mentioned that Townsville has an… active rumor mill. I'm sure that someone has seen _something_ , you said so yourself: The attacks have been happening for years." She finished washing her hands before moving to the towel rack to dry her hands, allowing Bubbles her turn at the sink.

"Well… Butch did say to ask the locals about the so called 'rules' surrounding the forest." Buttercup stated as she placed a hand under her chin as she thought out loud. "Now would probably be the best time to gather some information. People talk after all. "

She pivoted slightly to face Bubbles, who had just finished lathering her hands with soap. "What do you think Bubs?"

Bubbles pondered it for a moment as she rinsed off the suds, moving toward the towel rack so Buttercup could have access to the sink. "So far it sounds like a decent plan." She admitted, "The pub is probably the best place in town to get some answers concerning this."

A pause. "But the question remains: Do _they_ even know what's going on here?"

"They've got to, or at least have some sort of idea about what's going on here." Buttercup muttered. "They're scared; scared enough to give the woods its own set of regulations. Someone has got to have seen something over the years. It's not like the attacks just started occurring."

"Fair, but didn't Butch say that they've gradually been getting worse?" Blossom inquired as she leaned back against the open doorframe leading into the bathroom.

"He mentioned something along those lines." Buttercup grumbled, relaying the conversation she had with Butch a few hours ago in her head, as she gently moved Bubbles out of the way so she could access the towel rack.

Bubbles shrugged as she stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway. "There's really no way of knowing for sure until we ask around I suppose. If this has been happening for as long as Butch claims it has been; chances are that someone knows something. It's just finding that person." she declared.

Blossom nodded. "A good point. Who knows, maybe we just might find that person tomorrow in town." She turned her head to peer down the hallway. "Now come on. I think we've kept everyone waiting long enough. We'll worry about this tomorrow." With that she moved off down the hallway with Bubbles in toe, leaving Buttercup to exit the bathroom.

"Let's hope someone will have some type of answer of us." The onyx haired girl muttered darkly as she flicked off the light switch in the bathroom and followed her sisters down the hallway toward the dining room.

* * *

 _Townsville center, December 19_ _th_ _, 1829, Town Pub_

"Well, well. Would you look at that girls; the old pub is still here, even after all these years!"

John grinned happily as he stepped outside of the carriage, his daughter's following suit. "Time to see if the food is as good as I remember it to be!"

Bubbles stepped out of the carriage first behind her father and shuddered slightly, pulling her traveling clock closer to her slender frame as a blast of cold winter wind hit her in the face. Turning her light blue eyes to the building in front of her; she squinted slightly to make out the hanging, snow covered sign that hung above the entrance to the pub:

 _Town Pub – Open since 1773_

"Well they've been open for a long time." Bubbles mused as she stepped closer to her father's left side, discreetly trying to leach off of some of his body heat.

John chuckled at his youngest attempts to stay warm in the biting winter winds and pulled her closer to him, wrapping a portion of his own cloak around the blonde girl. "Yes they have, they've been open since before I was born. I remember coming here for a bite to eat and a warm drink on days like today. They used to serve the best artichoke and turkey sandwiches, I wonder if the menu's changed at all…"

"That's all very well and grand dad, but could we please head inside? I think my hands are going to turn blue if I stand out here any longer."

John turned around to see that his two eldest had also left the warmth of the carriage. Buttercup was rubbing at her exposed hands and muttering curses about the bitter wind, her long, dark hair billowing about as the frigid air tossed it around, and Blossom trying to hold her bright red cloak together as her own long red locks were thrown about carelessly by the wind.

He turned his attention back down to Bubbles who was shivering against his side, teeth chattering slightly. John sighed; this winter was going to be an especially cruel one if the weather kept up like this, he could already tell.

"Let's head inside girls, you're going to catch you're death out here." He muttered as he pushed them ahead of him, before turning to the carriage driver. "We're going to be here for a few hours, there is a stable around the back of the barn, go put the horse in there and relax. It's far too cold for anyone to be out here in this weather. I'll come fetch you when we want to leave."

The carriage driver nodded, confirming that he had heard him and flicked the reins, maneuvering the horse toward the back of the pub where the barn was located, leaving John alone in the snow covered square.

John pivoted around on his heel, ready to head inside the pub where his daughters were waiting for him; when he froze and a sudden chill – which was not caused by the sub-zero winds howling though the town – rippled through him. _Someone was watching him._

He whirled around; eyes darting in every direction, trying to pin-point where the feeling of eyes on him was coming from. _Nothing._

 _No one was there. He was completely alone._

John shuddered. "H-hello?" he called out bravely. "I-is someone there? Hello?"

Silence.

John surpassed another shudder. "I must be losing my mind." He muttered. "There's no one here John. Who in their right mind would be out here in these conditions? You need to get more sleep. You're becoming a paranoid mess." He scolded himself angrily.

The tall man let out an annoyed sigh, his breath fogging in front of him in the frigid winter air as he turned around again, and entered the pub after his daughters.

Across the frozen square, hidden in the shadows of an alleyway; a lanky, pale man with greasy black hair nonchalantly lit a cigarette; blowing the cloud of nicotine lazily into the air as he did so. His unnatural pink rimmed eyes locked on the retreating figure of the professor. A sharp toothed grin spread across the man's face sinisterly.

"Found you."

* * *

The pub was an open, basement-like space, lit by glass lamps hanging from the exposed wooden beams above. The pubs bar was stretched along the far wall, with several taped barrels containing various kinds of ale behind it. In the middle of the room were wooden tables with a few chairs at each of them. On the other sides of the pub opposite from the bar were cushioned booths that lined the walls. John herded his daughters toward a larger booth tucked away in the far right corner of the pub, away from the praying eyes of the few patrons that braved the cold to enter the pub.

As he waited for his children to seat themselves in the booth, the bar keeper approached them with a small smile on her tired, lined face. "John Utonium, is that you?" she asked in a scratchy voice. John furrowed his brow at the older woman before him, before his eyes widened and a smile broke out across his face.

"Marie! It's been a long time, how have you been?" he greeted the woman with a peck on the cheek, causing the thin looking woman to chuckle. "I've been good dear. I'm still here so that says something." She peered past him to look at the girls and her face lit up in recognition. "My goodness, these can't be your daughters can they? Last I saw them, they were tiny little tots, now look at them – all grown up, and have turned into beautiful young woman!"

Blossom let a small blush tint her cheeks at the woman's praise. "Thank you very much for your kind words, my sisters and I appreciate them." she responded formally, eliciting a tiny laugh out of the bar keep.

"You and your sisters probably don't remember me, but your father used to come in here all the time when your family lived in Townsville. He raved on and on about you girls, said he was going to raise you to be proper ladies – I can see that he made good on that promise." She nudged John's shoulder and the older man let out a small laugh as he seated himself beside Bubbles. "I tried." He chuckled.

"You did just fine." The older woman responded kindly, "Such beautiful girls they turned into, I can see their mother in them." she nodded fondly at the mention of Sara. "I'm sure the men that have been chosen for them consider themselves to be extremely lucky."

Buttercup stiffened, letting a barely audible growl escape her throat as she glared down at the menu, muttering under her breath. John flinched at the frosty atmosphere that was quickly overcoming his daughters; as they refused to meet the gaze of the elderly bar keep.

"Well, actually Marie… they don't quite… well, they don't exactly… have suitors chosen for them as of yet." John whispered to her, causing Marie straighten, surprised at the confession.

"Oh. I thought that they were the proper age." She stated confused.

"Well, they are, but I don't really want them running off with some man they hardly know. Sara and I both agreed that we would wait a little longer before we begin the search for a proper suitor for them." John muttered quickly, keeping his voice low as he noticed some of the other male patrons turn to face them – alerted by the conversation taking place in the corner. He sent them a warning look, causing some of the younger men to turn away, however a few of the older ones met his challenging gaze and held it. John cringed inwardly as he turned his attention back to Marie.

"I'm sorry Marie, but if you would be so kind to keep that between us, it would be appreciated. I've had some troubles with other men trying to seek out my daughter's in the past, and I know that it irritates them greatly when they ask for their hands– I really _don't_ need to ward off men from here as well." John murmured gently to the older woman. She nodded in understanding as she glanced at each of the girl's stony faces.

"Understood. Don't you worry about the men in here my dears; I'll keep them in line. It's better that you wait for the right ones anyway." She soothed as she pulled out her note pad and flipped it open to a blank page. "Anyways, what could I get you all to start with?"

"I think I'll just have some butter beer for now, that always warned me up on days like today." John said as he skimmed over his menu. "Girls, what do you want?"

"I'll just take the butter beer." Buttercup grumbled, still slightly off put. "I'll take the same." Blossom mirrored as she nodded at Bubbles. "What about you?" "I'll just have what everyone else is having, four butter beers please!" Bubbles flashed the older woman a soft smile.

Marie nodded. "Four butter beers coming up. I'll leave you four alone to look over the menu." She turned on her heel to leave before John spoke up. "Oh Marie, where's Henry? I'd like to say hello to him as well if he's in!"

The graying woman clenched her free hand tightly as she turned her head stiffly to give John a sad look. "Henry's not here anymore dear. He died last year." Ignoring John's dumbfounded expression she turned to face the front and marched back over to the bar to get the family their drinks.

"Who's Henry papa?" Bubbles asked quietly. John rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand as he replied quietly, "Henry is – was – Marie's husband, they opened the pub together back in the day and were always working together. I thought it was strange that I hadn't seen him yet."

"Death seems to be a reoccurring theme in this town." Buttercup stated idly as she flipped over the menu to glance at the appetizers. John frowned. "Buttercup please watch what you say here. Some people in the town can be… offended rather easily. But it does seem that way doesn't it?" he caved.

They quieted when Marie returned with their drinks on a large carrying tray. Placing it on the table, she took four tall glasses of butter beer off of it and placed one beside each family member. "Here you are, four butter beers." She said gently as she stood up again to collect the tray off the table.

"Marie about before, I'm so sorry to hear of Henry. He was such a kind fellow who always had good health. I'm, sorry about your loss." John began apologetically before the thin woman held up a hand to stop him.

"It's alright John. I didn't expect you to know, you just got back after all. I'm still hurting a little from it. His death came as… quite the shock."

"Health related issues?" John puzzled. Marie shook her head. "I wish, that would have been much easier to deal with. No John. He had perfect health, right up until the day he died. What happened to him was far worse."

A faraway look began to cloud over the elderly woman's eyes as she spoke of her deceased husband. Her statement caused the girls to pause as they held onto their glasses, waiting for what she had to say next. John cast a nervous glance at his daughters, knowing that they were listening intently, but kept quiet also wanting to hear what the bar keeper had to say.

"What happened to my husband was the same thing that happened to your brother John. He met the same fate as him and many, _many_ others in this godforsaken town." She whispered.

John was silent as he stared blankly down at his drink, watching the foam cling to the sides of the glass. It was another moment before he found his voice. "What?" he asked hollowly.

"He – he was torn apart by whatever lives in the woods." Marie hiccupped slightly as her eyes cleared up. "He went out one night for an evening stroll and he never came back. They found him three days later inside the forest. All they had to do was follow the blood trail…"

"Marie please; not in front of my daughters…" John protested weakly as he cast another look over to his children, noticing that they had forgotten about their drinks and were clinging on to every word the thin, pale woman said, only to have cold gray eyes focus on him sharply.

"Do they not know?" she asked sternly. "Pardon?" John asked timidly. Marie impatiently shook her head at him. "Do they not know?" she repeated. "What should we know?" Blossom spoke up before John could get in a single word. "About the forest my dear, and what lurks within it. What has your father told you?"

"Not much." Blossom admitted. "No one seems to be willing to talk about it actually." Marie snorted loudly, causing the rest of the man sitting at the tables opposite to them to turn in their direction.

"I'm not surprised honestly. It's horrendous stuff that happens here, but so long as you're in town, you three should know about what goes on here." Marie stated firmly, as John balked and almost choked on his drink.

"Marie please, I don't think that it's necessary-"

"What do you mean "not necessary" John? Of course it is!" Marie exclaimed loudly, as some of the other men from the bar began to shift toward them.

"If you're staying here then they have a right to know what is happening to this town! They _need_ to know, and clearly you haven't told them anything – which I find surprising, considering I heard that you're working with that – that _Lord_ of ours to find out what is going on!" she huffed as her face began to turn slightly red.

"Actually," Buttercup began lowly, "I was told by Bu- by someone to ask about the forest. He told me it was dangerous, but he didn't explain why. He told me that people here would be able to tell my sisters and me about it."

"That we can pretty one." A gruff voice spoke up from behind Marie.

The older woman stepped aside slightly to reveal one of the men sitting at the wooden tables staring at them, alerted by the commotion in the back corner.

"The woods here have always been a dangerous place to be in." he started, "But in the past decade, things have become progressively worse. There's something in there – or something around it – that likes to hunt big game. And by that; I mean it likes to go after humans if given the chance." He took a swig from the mug he was nursing between is callused hands.

"You see lass, this thing – whatever it is, because no one has ever seen it – likes to cause a lot of problems for the people living here. It's aggressive and as most of us can tell you: it will go after anything with legs."

He tipped the mug back. "I'm sure you have figured that much out for yourselves though. It got Marie's husband, and it got your uncle last month, and recently it massacred that gypsy camp just outside of town." He paused before turning his attention to John.

"Hey now Professor weren't you there at the campsite when the thing attacked? Did you get a look at it?" he squinted. "Why where you even there to begin with?"

Under the table John reached into his coat pocket and rubbed at the silver medallion, whose mysteries he still had yet to solve. "Ah no." he replied smoothly, "I didn't get a good look at it, I only caught a fleeting glimpse of it when it was retreating back into the woods. I didn't see it again after that."

"Oh." The man slumped in his chair. "God knows that thing is elusive. I can't tell you how many hunting parties I've been a part off to try and track the thing down. The dogs always lose the trial though. Not many people going hunting in the forest because of it."

He made a face, "That and all of my hunting dogs; even my senior ones go absolutely nuts when they are tracking the sent. Something about it scares them, they become practically useless."

"What about Lumpkins?" A younger man near the front of the pub called out, "Didn't he think he was on to something?"

The first man let a bitter grin creep up onto his face. "Of course he did. Crazy bastard, he hated when anything trespassed on his property. Just before he died he said that he had found some kind of prints in the mud and was going to follow them, had his rifle loaded and ready, and look what happened to him – The thing not only mangled him, but ripped his shooting arm clean off!"

Bubbles turned white and pushed her ale to the side as she leaned back in the booth, closing her sky blue eyes. John saw this and frowned. "Gentlemen please, I think that this is upsetting my-"

"I was told that you have certain rules regarding the woods." Buttercup interrupted, leaning forward slightly. "What is that about?"

"Well because no one knows what's responsible for all of the killings, people aren't allowed in the woods after dusk." A young man spoke up, eyeing the dark beauty as he did so, "and it's almost customary for people to be inside after eight at night. By nine this place is a ghost town. That's when the _thing_ comes out to play."

"Interesting." Buttercup mused as she swirled her drink around, "and no one has seen what is causing all the deaths?" she asked confused.

"No, no one can get a clear look at it. The only ones who did are dead now."

Buttercup hummed as she took a tiny sip of her drink. Blossom cast a glance at her middle sister, her posture was calm and relaxed but Blossom could see the confusion swirling around in her sister brilliant green eyes.

"Hey professor, we head you was working with Jojo on cracking what's behind all of the attacks, have you found anything?" another man called out.

John straightened in his seat and thought about the question for a moment before he began to speak slowly and carefully, adapting a tone that he reserved for Citysville University students when he was giving a lecture. "Mojo and I have only just begun looking at some of the case studies. We may have found something but until we clarify our findings with the local authorities I don't want to say anything just yet." He informed the other men.

"I know what it is."

A low gravelly voice spoke up over the din of the men's intrigued murmurings, casing Blossom's head to turn in the direction of the back left corner of the room, opposite of the Utonium's.

There, seated in the corner was a ragged looking older man that Blossom hadn't noticed before. His dark brown hair was matted and hung past his shoulders. A scruffy salt and pepper beard was growing rampid on his face and his clothes were old and tattered. A scowl was plastered on his withered face as he sneered at the rest of the pub's customers, before tipping his head back and chugging down his ale.

A collective groan ran though the pub at the sight of him.

"Christ Albert, not again with your horror stories."

"You're worse than those gypsies mate I swear."

"No offence pal, but what you believe… it's a little far-fetched."

"Albert, no one wants to hear your monster stories _again_ for the umpteenth time. Let's be practical, besides – we have ladies in the room."

The ragged man sneered at the complaining barmen.

"You all just don't want to believe that it's the _TRUTH._ " He hissed as he moved to get out of his seat, turning his attention on the girls. Blossom cringed as his intense gaze landed on them.

"Mark my words ladies, what I'm about to tell you is completely true! It took place probably two or three years ago now – "

"Oh Christ, here he goes again." Groaned one of the men closest to the Utonium's table, as the ratty looking man launched into his story.

"It was almost three years ago now when I found him – all of you should remember – Jason Macintosh and his entire flock of sheep. God almighty what a sight – there was brains and blood and god-knows-what-else scattered all over the moor, staining the hills red from all of the innards. And the look on that poor bastards face… it was like he had been eaten alive – which wasn't far off mind you. Whatever did it to him was _big._ Real goddamn big, with claws as sharp as stake knifes and didn't mind getting hit at close range with a round of buckshot – I found the shells afterwards under a torn out sheep's stomach. After that, I went home and did what any sensible person would do: I melted down my wife's silverware and jewelry and turned them into silver bullets to protect us from the _beasts_. I have _never_ left my house on a full moon after that."

"Oh… God." Bubbles whimpered as she buried her face in her hands, trying to block out the grisly images of the slaughtered flock. Buttercup flicked her unnatural green eyes to her younger sister as she gently looped an arm around her delicate shoulders, pulling the blonde girl toward her.

The bar was completely silent for a moment. No one darling to challenge the panting man, who was glaring hatefully at them.

"Is it true?"

Blossom found her voice first, as she nervously played with a strand of her long red hair. Breaking the silence she met the man's intense stare and asked him again. "Is it true?"

The man opened his mouth to respond before one of the other bar patrons beat him to it.

"Well, yes the story is true. Old Albert here did find the remains of Jason and his flock. It's the part about the so called _beasts_ that has everyone one here a little more than skeptical." He informed her.

"Then what in hell's name do you think did it then?!" The ratty man; Albert, exploded. "The blasted police here already ruled out bears, which is the only animal strong enough to do that kind of damage, and we all know for damn sure that it defiantly wasn't a human!"

He slammed his mug down on the wooden table. "No. It was the unholy offspring of wolfs bane that did it. The beast has the strength of an animal but the intelligence of a human – what else could have done it? It only ever attacks on a full moon, haven't you noticed – "

"Albert, come on mate, I think you have had too much to drink, just sit down and stop for a moment and listen to yourself. You sound like a raving lunatic…"

One of the men closest to him had stated to say, but John tuned it out. _It only ever attacks on a full moon. All of the killings happened on a full moon._ John now had two people saying the exact some things about the murders. First his father-in-law and now the town lunatic.

Coincidence? No, John didn't think so. It was too familiar.

And now he had another person refer to them as _the offspring of wolfs bane._ John thought back briefly to Berserk and her sisters warning about the creatures.

 _Werewolf's_ they had called them _._ John shook his head slowly as he fingered the medallion in his pocket.

 _It couldn't be._ He reasoned to himself. Those creatures only existed in fairy tales, nothing more. He was a man of reasoning – of science, and he would not be swayed by the ramblings of a half crazed man – no matter how morbid they were.

 _But then again, he didn't have a decent expiation about the creatures that he had seen that night either…_

He had to put an end to the madness, nothing was making sense to him and the voices inside the pub were slowly rising into an uproar.

"Gentleman, if I may speak," John raised his voice about the dull roar, causing the ramblings to quiet some. "Sir Mojo and I have looked over some of the case files and I myself noticed the all of the murders took place on a full moon." He paused and Albert's eyes widened with victory. He opened his mouth to speak before John interrupted him.

"However, I am a man of science, and as such, I need solid proof before I go believing that a monster out of children's stories did this." He paused once again for effect. "So far we don't know much about this creature, only that it hunts at night – and that its hunting patterns are very irregular."

He took a deep breath before continuing, sparing a glance down at his daughters, who were looking at him with wide eyes. "If you want my guess, I think that we are looking at some aggressive new breed of hybrid – a cross between two animals – What two animals, I don't know. We are still looking into it."

"Is that why the morgue keeper couldn't figure out if it was an animal that tore up the other corpses?" a young man near the front called out. John nodded his conformation.

"That's what I think. Again, nothing is clear right now, and we've only just begun looking into it, but rest assured – we _will_ figure this out, and _end_ this… _things_ reign of terror."

The speech was met with cheers and a thunderous round of applause from the bar patrons. One of the older men near John lifted his mug in the air. "A toast to the professor and his family – also, a toast to Eugene too, God bless his soul."

A round of 'here's' started up as the rest of the bar men raised their mugs as well, before tilting their heads back and downing their ale. John half-heartedly raised his own glass and took a small sip before setting it down gently on the table. Turning his head to the left he saw his triplets giving him incredulous looks. "What?" He questioned them.

"Why did you not tell us this?" Blossom asked.

"That's what I want to know too." Buttercup growled sourly as she eyed her father, still keeping her arm around Bubbles.

John sighed, rubbing hos temples lightly. "I wanted too, believe me girls, I did, but I wanted to be sure before I ran my mouth. Truthfully, I still have no idea if it's even a hybrid at all, but it's the answer that makes the most sense. That, and it would appear the almost everyone in here has lost someone to this thing aside from us. They want answers, and I tried to give them mine – if only to hold them over for a little while."

A frown lightly pulled at Blossom's face, she straighter in her spot and began to open her lips to ask her father what he thought it was; before a low, sarcastic laugh made her head turn.

Albert was standing up from his booth and was pulling on a ratty looking traveling cloak, shaking his head and glaring at them hatefully.

"You really are a fool, for one so smart as you are." He growled, nodding at the professor. "Not everything in the world has a logical answer. This town is proof of that, and you lived here before; you of all people should know that." The professor was oddly silent. Albert snorted as he moved for the door, turning around fully to face the rest of the pub who were just as silent.

"There is another full moon coming up – Just after Christmas and right before the New Year." He informed them solemnly. "If you don't believe me now, you'll see what I mean when those things strike again. The professor even admitted it: it attacks on a full moon. Maybe not every one – but I have a feeling that there's going to be more blood split on this upcoming one. Take that as you will."

He turned around to leave the pub before he paused with his hand on the door knob. "I know some of you blokes have been thinking about it for a while now, but I think that now is as good a time as any – call The Hunter. He'll fix this mess that we've let ourselves fall into."

And with that, he turned the door knob and stepped out into the frigid winter winds, slamming the door behind him.

The bar lapsed into an uneasy silence after the door slammed shut. One could hear a pin-drop in the in the deafening silence that covered the pub.

It was Bubbles the broke the silence. She tugged gently on her father's sleeve so he turned his attention toward her. In a desperate attempt to change the subject she quietly asked him: "He has a good point, what are we doing for Christmas?"

John let a small sigh escape him, as he allowed the tension that had been building up in his shoulders to deflate. "I don't know yet Bubbles. I suppose we'll be sending it here, I can see about seeding someone to go fetch us a tree-"

"Forget about that, dad is it true? Does this thing really hunt on a full moon?" Buttercup stepped in, her dark hair spilling over her shoulder as she spun around to face him.

John clamed up as his middle daughter's intense gaze bore into him. Finally he slowly nodded his head. "From what I've seen so far, yes it does. It was actually your Grandfather that pointed it out." He admitted.

Buttercup shot a look to the now sealed door of the pub before re-directing her attention back to her father. "What if the crazy man was right?" she asked in a hushed whisper. "The next full moon is in a week. What if that thing comes back and kills someone? And what about this Hunter character that he mentioned? Who is he?"

"I don't know Buttercup, really. You're guess is as good as mine." John informed her tiredly. "This Hunter is new to me as well. I've never heard of him before."

"Oh no one really knows much about him." Came the guff voice of one of the bars older patrons. "He's a younger fellow who was born in this town - I think his grandmother still lives here – But he left some years back to be trained by one of the finest hunters around these parts. Big game is their specialty. We've been thinking about bringing him in for a while now, ever since Lumpkins bit the dust. I think one of the lads might have actually called-"

"Oi professor."

John turned his attention back to the front of the pub, where he saw the younger gentlemen from earlier grinning wolfishly. He nodded his head toward where Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles where sitting, grin still in place.

"Rumor has it that your daughters are available, and of marring age no less. Mind if I court one of them? I have never seen such gorgeous woman in my life-"

Buttercup's head swivelled toward the source of the voice. Her vivid green eyes locking on to the speaker as she glared at him hatefully.

"Listen you pig." She all but snarled. "My sisters and I are not here just for your viewing pleasure. Do me a favor and go stick you cock in a-"

John stood up abruptly, slamming his glass onto the table's wooden surface, his face tight with barely hidden rage – effectively cutting Buttercup off in the middle of her rant.

"Listen to be very carefully – all of you." He hissed coldly. "I don't give a damn about what the rumors say – my daughters are _not_ available. Do I make myself clear? I _will not_ let them marry _anyone_ from this town, regardless of what the marriage laws here are. Do I make myself clear? Do I?" He spat venomously, glaring angrily at the younger men in the bar who seemed to slink back under his dark, angry stare.

"Good." John seethed as he clenched his fists. Tilting his head down slightly, his eyes softened as he met the different coloured gazes of his children.

"Girls get your things together; I think it's time that we left. Marie, I'll take the bill now please." He called over to the elderly woman, who had slunk back behind the bar.

Making her way over to the Utonium family, Marie paused as John placed a few coins into the palm of her bony hand, before covering it with his larger one. "Again Marie, I'm truly sorry to hear about what happened to Henry. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out what is going on here." He whispered quietly to her.

She gave him a tense nod. "Promise me." She whispered hoarsely. "Promise me that you'll get to the bottom of this. Not just for me or your brother, but for the town's sake."

John nodded solemnly. "I promise. And I promised Jennifer as well. I won't let ether of you down."

The older woman tilted her head up to press a kiss to John's cheek. "Bless you my boy, and may god be with you. Lord knows you'll need it."

"Papa?" Blossom's voice came from behind his back. Turning around he saw his daughters standing up with their traveling cloaks on; Buttercup still glaring daggers at the young man near the front of the pub.

"We're ready." She informed him as she proceeded to link her arms though her sisters. John smiled at them. "Very good, off we go then-"

The pub door was flung open, hitting the wall with a loud _bang._

"HE'S HERE!"

A young man in his early twenties was standing in the open doorway; face red and flustered from the howling winds of the winter storm that had begun outside.

"Speak up lad, who's here?" Rumbled the older man as he squinted at the intruder in the doorway.

"The Hunter! He's here, he's outside! He just arrived! Gorge Pike from the police station called him in after the attack on the gypsy camp grounds! He's here to help us!"

"What!?"

A flurry of movement swept about the pub. Chairs scraped against the wooden floorboards as they were shoved back and away from their respective tables, as the rest of the men rose to their feet in an attempt to get to the door to see the mysterious Hunter for themselves. Within seconds, the pub was completely empty.

John flicked his gaze from Blossom, Buttercup, Bubbles and Marie to the open door and back to them again. He gazed at the door, stunned for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess that's our que to leave then." He muttered.

"Guess so, besides I want to see this so called "Hunter" for myself." Buttercup growled as she tugged her sisters and her father toward the open door and out into the brewing winter storm.

* * *

"That's him."

"That's the Hunter in the flesh."

"Christ, look at all the hunting knifes he's got on him."

"Forget about the knifes; did you see the size of that gun?!"

"You know, for some reason I pictured him older…"

Buttercup pushed her way through the crowd of muttering men in order to reach the middle when the new-comer was, despite her sister's protests.

"Buttercup, slow down, don't shove – Oh sorry about that!" Blossom apologized as Buttercup yanked her forward, causing her to elbow an unsuspecting man in the groin, earning her a muffled sob of pain from the assault.

"I'm with Blossom for this one, I nearly – Ah sorry!" Bubbles cried as she tripped forward and all but back-handed another man across the face.

"Come on girls, I can't see. I want a better view. Dad?" Buttercup glanced back to see her father at the edge of the group of on-lookers. He held up his hands and stepped away.

"Oh no, I'm good, thanks girls. I'm going to go around back and alert our driver to get the carriage ready for us. Just stay here and I'll be back momentarily." Tugging his scarf around his face, he turned on his heel and swiftly walked toward the back of the pub where the stables where located, quickly disappearing out of sight.

Buttercup stifled a chuckle, bemused at her father's actions as she tugged her sisters forward. "Bloss, Bubs, come on, I can almost see him-" The words died on her tongue as the few men in front of her parted, allowing her to see the stranger.

He was tall and lean with messy brown hair and dark brown, almost black eyes, along with some faint freckles splashed across his cheeks. A dark green cloak blew around his frame; allowing Buttercup to catch a glimpse of the hunting belt that he wore around his waist and the impressive display of hunting knifes on it. Slung over his shoulder he carried a modified shot-gun and hunting rifle, which gleamed cruelly against his back.

Buttercup narrowed her eyes as she gazed at his face. She knew him from somewhere. She nudged Bubbles with her shoulder. "Does he look familiar to you?" she asked curiously. Bubbles looked him over before she nodded as well.

"I was just thinking that actually. Blossom? Do you know him?" She peered over Buttercup's shoulder to ask her eldest sister. Blossom had a confused look on her face as she looked him up and down, struggling to recall where she had seen the man before.

"I don't know. He _seems_ familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen him." She admitted softly.

Buttercup narrowed her gaze further as her lime green eyes bore into the lanky frame of the man who was wrapped up in a conversation with some of the local hunters and the man –George Pike she assumed – who had called him in.

She knew him, she was sure that she did. But where from?

Her head began to hurt slightly and she rubbed at her temples in frustration, closing her eyes to release some of the pressure. The wind picked up her long jet black hair, causing it to billow in the wind and blow toward the small group of men.

The Hunter flicked his head to the side as he saw the dark strands blow in the wind. Turning around slightly, his eyes landed on Buttercup and he froze. Buttercup opened her own eyes to see him staring at her and they held each other's stare.

Buttercup's eyes widened and she opened her blood red lips slightly as her breathing quickened. Bubbles noticed the change in her older sister's demeanor and she frowned slightly.

"Buttercup? What is it? Are you alright?"

Buttercup didn't respond. Instead she opened her mouth and a shrill yell escaped it.

" _ **MITCH?!"**_

"Oh my god _Buttercup!"_ The lanky young man responded as he suddenly rushed forward and wrapped the tall ravenette in a hug.

"Mitch! Oh my god, it's really you!" Buttercup laughed as she returned the hug, earning many confused looks from the other onlookers.

"In the flesh! How long has it been Butters? Ten, fifteen years now? I'm amazed that you didn't forget about me! C'mere, let me look at you!"

The tall brunette pulled away from the embrace as he placed his hands on her shoulders, giving her a quick once over, chuckling as he did so.

"Well, well, look at you! You actually turned into a lady. For a while you had me concerned. You even grew out your hair!" he took some of the silky black strands, giving them a playful tug. "Jesus its long, but it's a good look for you."

"Oh shut up." Buttercup chuckled as she smacked his arm, grinning wildly. "You don't look so bad yourself; you _actually_ got taller than me." She mimicked, causing him to groan playfully.

"Shaddup Butters, I knew I would outgrow you eventually…"

"Wait, you two know each other?" One of the men who Mitch had been talking to stepped forward.

"Know him? He was my best friend growing up here!" Buttercup ginned as she placed an arm around Mitch's broad shoulders.

"Yeah, somehow I managed to tolerate her- Owch!"

Mitch groaned as the tall ravenette's arm moved off his shoulders to elbow him in the stomach. "You haven't changed a bit have you?"

"Of course not." Buttercup shot back triumphantly. She snapped her fingers suddenly as she turned him around to face Blossom and Bubbles. "Mitch you remember my sisters right?"

"Of course I do. Bubbles, Blossom, it's been a long time, how are the both of you?"

"I've been well, thank you Mitch." Bubbles beamed.

"As have I." Blossom confirmed. "So… you're the 'Hunter' that everyone has been talking about."

Mitch shrugged but allowed a proud look to invade his eyes. "I guess. I left Townsville a few years after you three did. My Uncle raised me for a bit with my Grandma – he was the one who actually got me started in the… family business."

"Family business?" Bubbles echoed confused. Mitch let a slow grin slide up his face.

"Let's just say that much of my family happens to specialize in large game. The more vicious the better. The smarter, the more challenging, and I love a good hunt."

"You must be quite good at what you do then, if you have such a good reputation amongst the people here." Blossom said, nodding to the group of people who were watching them. Mitch chuckled.

"You could say that. But it could be argued that I am the _best_ at what I do."

"Girls?"

John pushed his way through the crowd to reach the middle where his daughters were standing. His dark eye's widened as the landed on Mitch.

"Mitch Mitchelson, is that you boy?" He asked softly. Mitch simply grinned at the sight of the older man, raising his hand in a mock salute.

"Hey professor, long time no see huh?" He nodded.

"Yes, a very long time… do you still live with your Grandmother?"

A nod. "For now yes, since I'm back in town on business." John frowned, "Business? What kind of business?" Mitch gestured to the crowd surrounding them.

"I heard that a so-called 'unstoppable' little beastie has been doing mass amounts of damage here. It's racked up quite the kill count as I've been told, so I got called in a week ago to help fix the problem." Mitch explained confidently, toying with a few of the large hunting knifes on his belt.

"I-I see… I'm surprised that you didn't alright know about this honestly." John admitted, casing Mitch to nod understandingly.

"Oh, that's because I don't live in Townsville anymore sir, I haven't for years. That's why I'm temporarily moving back in with my Grandma. I actually live roughly five or six hours away in one of the smaller towns with my fiancé." Buttercup tilted her head up to stare at him in shock.

"You're engaged?!"

An exaggerated snort came out of the taller male. "Well don't look too surprised. Yes I am engaged. Do you three remember Robin Synder?"

Bubbles let out an excited squeal. "Yes! She was my best friend! How is she?" she asked, remembering the sweet-tempered girl with long brown hair and pale blue eyes.

"She's good. She's back at home right now; mad as all hell at me for leaving for another job when I just got back a few days ago." He chuckled. "I told her she could come with me on this one if she wanted, but ah… she didn't seem too keen on coming back here either. For obvious reasons." He nodded toward the tree-line in the distance.

"All the same, I don't want her coming here until I've taken care of whatever this thing is. I knew things were getting bad here from the rumors I was hearing, but I didn't think it was this bad." He admitted sullenly.

"You heard about the gypsy's I assume?" John asked timidly. "I heard about them and a whole lot more – your brother included. My apologies sir." Mitch solemnly replied as he turned to address the crowd of weary looking men.

"Whatever this thing is, it's fast and intelligent, and also very, very big." He called out, raising his voice so the other men surrounding him could hear him. "They are three very deadly traits when hunting an animal such as this. I don't know what it is exactly, but I suppose I'll find out soon enough." He paused, letting his words sink in.

"I've recently been informed by some of the gentlemen here that it has a peculiar hunting pattern and that it will attack – if it even does attack that it – only during a full moon. Now, the next full moon is in roughly a week and a half, which gives me some time to scour the forest and see if I can find a decent spot to start setting up traps. Hopefully I'll also be able to find some clues as to what exactly I'm dealing with here. I don't like walking into these types of situations blind. If I turn up anything, I'll let the police here know and then I'll notify the rest of town."

A powerful gust of wind howled though the town's center, forcing the weary group to huddle closer together for added protection against the rapidly worsening elements. Mitch sighed as he tilted his head up to look at the cloud covered sky in disdain.

"Hell of a day to go searching in the forest. I doubt I'm going to find anything with the weather like this, but I need to get started." He muttered grumpily to himself. Forcing a small smile on his face, he pulled Buttercup in for another hug.

"It's nice to see you again Butters, we need to catch up sometime soon. Preferably when I'm not chasing after man-eating beasts."

"Are you really going to look in the forest now?" Buttercup asked increadibously.

"Have too. Normally I wouldn't if the weather conditions are getting bad like this, but the situation here is pretty dire. That and It's not a bad idea to re-familiarize myself with Townsville's forest."

He pulled away giving her another smile. "I'll catch up with you soon. Blossom, Bubbles, Professor." He nodded to each family member in turn. Slowly he turned to face the men that he had been talking to earlier; he clasped his hands together; rubbing them slowly.

"So, you gentlemen are going to take me to the forest yes?" He asked as he swung his hunting rifle off of his shoulder and let it rest on his hip.

The other hunters nodded. "This way, we'll take you to where the beast was supposedly spotted last."

With that, the small hunting party began to depart for the forest. Mitch turned around to wave goodbye to the family before he turned the corner of one of the town's buildings and disappeared out of sight.

The crowd of on-looker quickly dispersed after the hunting party disappeared, not wanting to be out in the biting cold any longer, leaving the Utonium's alone in the blustery square.

John tapped his daughters on their shoulders, bringing them out of their thoughts.

"Girls, the carriage is just over there." He pointed behind him where the carriage was parked in front of the pub's entrance. "Let's go, you'll freeze to death out here."

Buttercup sighed, but nevertheless turned with her sisters toward the awaiting carriage. Sparing one last look over her shoulder, she failed to see the small patch of black ice underfoot until it was too late.

"SHIT!" she screeched as she fell forward. Throwing her arms forward, she braced herself for a hard hit from the unforgiving mixture of ice and stone that was rushing up to meet her – only to have two hands wrap themselves under her arms and catch her in mid fall, hoisting her up as they did so.

"Well that was embarrassing, can't remember the last time I did that. Thank you by the way-" She began to say as she turned around to face the person who had caught her; one to have the words die on her tongue.

Standing behind her had to be the most off-putting man she had ever laid eyes on. He was tall and thin as a rail with pasty white skin covering his bones. Greasy looking black hair hung to his shoulders and his face was adorned with a shit eating grin that was far from pleasant. His most prominent feature however, was his eyes. Instead of the normal white scalars, his were a pale pink; a stark contrast to the rest of his pale, sickly looking body.

His grin grew wider as he gazed down at her prone form. Buttercup couldn't suppress the shiver that ran though her that wasn't caused by the cold.

"No problem doll. Ace D. Copular at your service." He gave her a mock bow. His voice held a scratchy Italian accent, mixed in with a downtown New York accent. Buttercup cocked an eyebrow at the strange mixture but didn't comment on it.

"Well, thank you Mr. Copular-"

"Please, with you gorgeous, you can just call me Ace." Ace winked at her flirtatiously and Buttercup fought the urge to roll her eyes. She nor her sisters could catch a break it seemed.

"Well then… Thank you… Ace, for not letting me smash my face into the ground. I appreciate it." She sighed sarcastically, just barely repressing her famous eye roll.

Ace snickered; the sound unpleasant and flemmy, coming from the back of his throat. "I can see why he likes you so much." He grinned at the younger girl, "You have looks _and_ spice in your personality. That's hot."

"What…?" Buttercup barely managed to get out before Blossom came marching over, grabbing her sister's arm, her long red locks getting tossed about with the wild winds.

"Buttercup, come on, we have to go." Blossom stated firmly. Moving her head up slightly so her lips were level with Buttercup's ear she whispered urgently, " _Come on, let's get out of here, this man is bad news_ , _I don't like where this is going."_ She hissed.

Buttercup gave a half nod of her head to let Blossom know that she had heard her. Leave it to her older sister to sense that she was in bind and for her to come to her rescue… as per usual.

This time however, Buttercup was grateful for the diversion.

Ace's pale pink eyes lit up at the sight of Blossom. "Oh, so you must be Blossom. I've heard a lot of things about you. So you really _do_ have pink eyes, I didn't believe them when they first told me." He peered behind them smirking at Bubbles who was lingering back a step, not wanting to get closer to the sickly looking man with the horrible grin.

"and by process of elimination, that must be Bubbles." He leered at the blonde girl as he waggled his fingers at her in a coy wave. Bubbles let out a nervous laugh and returned the gesture, abet hesitantly.

"Forget about that – how do you know our names?" Buttercup snarled as Blossom gripped her arm tighter. Ace simply grinned and did another mock bow to the sisters.

"Introducing the newest member of staff to their lordships; the Jojo's." He recited with a laugh. Blossom stared at him for a moment in apparent disbelief.

"You work for them?" she asked skeptically, raising a slightly arched eyebrow. Buttercup didn't blame her. He seemed like the last person that they would consider hiring to look after the massive estate.

"I do indeed. They let go of their last three lackeys… something Bro's – permanently. They needed the spot filled desperately, so they called on me to take on the job – I'm just acting as the errand boy today."

 _Among other things._

He leered at them, "They've told me quite a bit about the three of you though. Said you was childhood friends back in the day. They told me that I should keep an eye out for you when I'm in town, seeing how they don't like coming down here to mingle with the locals."

He grinned sickly at the sisters. He could see why the Jojo brother's liked them so much. They had an interesting amount of fire in them that seemed to allure other men to them, and the looks to match. There was no doubt about it – they were an irresistible catch.

"Girls!" The shrill cry of the professor cut through the air, causing all three to turn at the same time. The older man was already sitting in the carriage with the door open; extending his hand out toward them impatiently, having missed the exchange between them and the abnormally pale man.

"Let's go please! I don't think out driver wants to be out here any longer and neither do I for that matter!"

"Coming!" Blossom responded, tugging on the onyx haired woman's arm firmly, whist reaching out to take hold of Bubbles's hand, dragging both of them back toward their father and away from Ace.

Buttercup allowed herself to be yanked along by her older sister – her eyes didn't leave Ace's still grinning form however.

There was something not quite right about the new caretaker of the Jojo estate. He, much like the Amoeba Bro's, had an off-putting presence about him. Blossom had obviously sensed it as well as Bubbles, telling Buttercup that she wasn't the only one who thought that there was something off with the new hand.

"Yes… well, thanks again for back there… hopefully if we run into each other again it won't be like that."

She muttered before she turned herself around and hopped into the awaiting carriage after her sisters; slamming the door behind her. The driver flicked the reins, clicking his tongue as the horse slowly began to depart the frozen square, heading back to Bellum manor – leaving Ace alone in the deserted square.

The sickly looking man only laughed mirthfully.

"Oh don't you worry sweet cheeks. I'll be seeing both you _and_ your sisters soon enough."

His cackles echoed though the frozen streets hollowly.

* * *

 **Townsville Forest**

Mitch sighed, his breath becoming visible in the sub-zero air as he took in his surroundings.

"This is it then?"

One of the hunters who had taken him to the forest nodded eagerly. "This is the spot where the creature was last spotted. I'm almost certain of it!"

"Almost doesn't necessarily cut it though." Mitch muttered to himself annoyed, as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

Robin would kill him if she found out he had taken up smoking again, but it times like these – when he was on a high-risk hunt with absolutely no leads, and pressed for time – it helped him relax. And he found that it seemed to raise his tolerance level slightly when dealing with clueless, boarder-line idiots such as the ones he was currently with.

 _Slightly._

He took a drag of his lit cigarette and blew out the smoke carelessly as his eyes scanned their current location.

The local hunters had taken him to the spot where the creature he was after had supposedly been spotted last. It was an area of the forest that was far away from the town itself, but not far away from civilization. If one wanted to exit the forest, all they had to do was take a ten minute walk east – back the way they had come from – until they reached the end of the forest.

What made the spot so interesting to Mitch; was the crumbling remains of an old church. The church itself was little more than a skeleton, its roof having rotted away years ago, and what was left of the four walls had been badly damaged by the elements; leaving gaping holes in the mortar. The only thing that was remotely intact was the arch-way and stone steps leading up to the church, the doors long since having been destroyed.

He had already scanned the area around the crumbling church looking for clues but had come up empty handed. He hadn't expected to find anything though. According to the hunters; almost a month had passed since the creature's last attack, giving the forest plenty of time to hide any clues it had left behind.

"Find anything sir?" One of the hunters called out, snapping him out of his reprieve.

"No. The trail is long since cold by now, and the weather isn't helping much." Mitch responded, flicking his cigarette up toward the darkening sky, where snow was falling fast and heavy onto the ground below.

"If the dogs haven't found anything yet then I don't think that we're going too." He added, gesturing to several of the hunting dogs that they had brought along on the trip. Mitch sighed inwardly. Dogs were usually one of his most valuable assets when he was hunting but these ones hadn't been able to find single sent trail, which he found odd.

It was almost as if the beast had vanished off the face of the earth.

Mitch snorted at the thought as he threw his cigarette down and crushed it soundly beneath his foot. Animals couldn't do that. Sooner or later the thing he was after would mess up and leave him a clue. It was finding it that was turning into a problem.

Then again, this creature was supposedly very intelligent. Maybe it somehow knew to cover its tracks. That was a little more believable in his mind, he had come across animals that knew how to do that, maybe this one was no different.

But on the other hand, that also meant that it would probably take him twice as long to find it.

Mitch stifled a groan. He was two minutes away from calling off the search and starting again tomorrow. It was very apparent that he and his team weren't going to find anything today. Maybe tomorrow would be better and the weather would clear up somewhat.

"What are you thinking sir?" the same hunter asked him curiously. Mitch flicked his eyes over to meet the nervous stare of the man.

"I'm thinking that we aren't going to find anything today." He responded truthfully. "But I also think that this is a good spot to go ahead and set up some traps."

The hunter nodded. "Alright boys, did you hear that? We're gonna start setting up the traps!" he called out to the other men in the group. A muffled chorus of grumbles was the response he received.

Mitch bit back a grin as he reached into one of the trap bags that several of the other hunters had brought, lifting out a large bear trap. They weren't the brightest bunch that he had ever worked with, but at least they came prepared.

As he and the men worked on strategically placing the traps around the crumbling church, he nudged one of the older men near him.

"Hey, so do you have any indication of what this thing is?" he asked quietly so the others wouldn't overhear. "Surly you have to have an idea at least."

The older man sighed, running a hand though his long, salt and pepper beard. "I do, but you'll think that I'm crazy." Mitch shook his head.

"I doubt it. I'm originally from here too. Weird shit like this has been happening here for as long as I can remember. Granted, it wasn't this bad, but I can promise you: the chances of me finding your idea 'crazy' are very, very low." He informed the man.

The old man was quiet for a moment. He took a deep breath and leaned toward Mitch, lowering his voice as he began to speak in hushed tone

"I don't suppose you've seen the bodies that are stored in the morgue yet, have you?"

A confused look from Mitch answered his question.

"Thought not, well _I_ have. In fact I was the one who brought some of them in to be inspected. When you go hunting in these woods, it's not uncommon to find mutilated body parts scattered here and there. Actually _finding_ and _identifying_ the body can be a little more challenging."

"I can understand that, but what has that got to do with the question." Mitch asked. The older man waved his hand, signalling that he was getting to it.

"When you get a chance, I would recommend looking at some of the corpses, or see if you can get Professor Utonium to tell you about them, you're friends with his daughter correct?"

"Well yes, but I still don't see what the corpses have to do with-"

"You want to know what I think right?"

"Yes…"

"Well, I've seen first-hand what this thing is capable of doing to a man. The damage it does is far more extensive than an ordinary bear. You can survive a bear attack, but if this thing gets a hold of you… It's not letting to until you're dead."

The man paused to grimace before continuing with his explanation.

"The wounds it deals are vicious and unnatural; I've never seen anything like it before. The Professor thinks that it's some sort of hybrid, I call bullshit on that. This thing is no hybrid. It's too vicious, too aggressive, and too… intelligent to be bred naturally. No, there are darker forces at work here."

He reached down his shirt and pulled out a silver cross; letting the dying light of the evening catch the bright metal, momentarily blinding Mitch.

"I don't usually believe in the paranormal, as I am a God fearing man myself, but over the past few years, as the attacks have gradually spiraled out of control… I've stated to accept that there is a possibility that it could be-"

He paused, and Mitch nodded his head, signaling for the man to continue. The hunter raised his head and looked around the area to see if anyone was listening in. When he was satisfied that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation his dropped back down to Mitch's level and hoarsely whispered:

"Demons."

Mitch blankly gazed at the man; before a slightly unhinged chuckle escaped him, casing the man to frown.

"… You don't believe me do you?"

"No, no, it's not that." Mitch shook his head as he finished setting up his current trap. "I'm listening to what everyone thinks about this thing that we're after. I'm in no position to say anything about it, since I don't know what it is myself. I just don't think that it's something as far-fetched as… that." He finished lamely, choosing his words carefully.

The hunter grunted as she shoved his cross back inside his shirt.

"Mark my words kid: There's something evil running amuck in these woods. You know what I think, but I dare not say it out loud to the others. I'd be damned if I let them know that I agree with Albert's rantings, or what those accursed gypsy's think."

"What the gypsy's think?" Mitch echoed. "What do they think-"

"That's the last of them!" A voice from the other side of the church rang out through the frosty air. "All the traps have been set. Can we head back to town now? I'm freezing my ass off!" A muffled chorus of agreements was accompanied by the cranky statement.

"Alright!" Mitch called back. "If all of them are ready to go, we can head back. Thank you very much gentlemen." The frozen men grumbled out their thanks as they collected their gear and dogs, heading back in the direction of town.

The older hunter stood up next to Mitch as he slung his now empty trap bag over his shoulder. He gave Mitch a small nod as he passed by him.

"If what the Professor and the rest of the town are starting to believe is true, I'd advice to you go and seek out the reminder of the gypsy camp before the next full moon." He cautioned. "For once, they might not be spewing out nonsense after all."

Then he turned around and briskly walked away in the opposite direction after his comrades, leaving Mitch alone in the darkening woods.

An owl hooted ominously nearby; signaling night-fall, otherwise the woods were oddly silent. Mitch listened to the wind howl though the broken remains of the church, the sound putting him slightly on edge.

Fishing around in his coat pocket he pulled out his lighter and his cigarettes. Lighting up another rolled up stick; he lit the end and took a deep drag, letting the smoke curl lazily around his head.

Turning his head skyward to gaze at the stars that were just starting to come out, he inhaled deeply before releasing it slowly, taking another drag of his cigarette.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time Michelson?" he asked no-one in particular.

Silence answered him.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

"Really Butch. Of all the people we could have brought in, you _had_ to pick _him_ for the job."

"He's a desperate man Brick, as I've said before: Desperate men will do _anything_. He's no exception."

"True, but he's still the most untrustworthy, conniving, depraved fucking lunatic that I've ever-"

"Relax bro; I've got it under control." Butch held his hands up, not moving from his spot on the couch.

"Oh really now? And just how exactly do you have it 'under control' do you mind me asking? We turn him loose and he already takes off on the first day! He was supposed to be back _three hours ago._ Who's to say that he hasn't up and left town?" Brick seethed, his red eyes blazing.

"He won't." Butch assured his older sibling, dark green orbs flashing dangerously. "He knows full well that I'll hunt him down and bring him back here. And unlike the last time, he knows full well just what I'm capable of doing."

A sadistic grin spread across his handsome features as he thought back to the former members of the GangGreen gang. He had warned them what he could do to them should they not let him leave on his own terms; it was their faults! They didn't listen, and now two of the five were now crippled beyond repair.

Boomer's cobalt blue irises turned to meet his as they furrowed slightly. "I'm still surprised that he took you up on your offer at all. I know he's desperate, but after what you did to his former gang, I'm shocked that he isn't terrified of you."

"Oh he is, he's just too proud to show it." The onyx haired man assured his blonde brother, sending him a twisted grin. "That's the beauty of it. It's far better to be feared then loved. It makes him easier to control, and we'll be able to keep him under our thumbs better."

He stretched back on the large couch placed in middle the living room, staring at nothing in particular. Boomer staring at him intently on his left and Brick opting to stand in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest.

"We'll let him have a bit of freedom for now, but without us he's nothing and he knows it. He needs us. Otherwise he has a one way ticket back to the penitentiary and I'm not freeing him again." Butch rumbled.

Brick frowned and opened his mouth to say something when the doors to the living room burst open with a loud _bang_. Standing in the door frame with a shit eating grin plastered on his face was Ace.

"Evening boys! How are we?" he chirped as he strode into the living room to stand beside Brick.

The crimson eyed male scowled distastefully at him. "Finally. About damn time you showed up. Just where the hell have you been?" he snapped, moving to stand behind the couch.

The boney man ginned wider. "Oh just out and about Townsville. Place hasn't changed much I see."

"It's Townsville, what did you expect?" Boomer grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest and glaring at Ace hostility. The greasy haired man only smirked at the blonde boy's actions.

"I don't give a damn if you were 'out and about', if we tell you to be back by a certain time, you'd _better_ be back by then-" Brick began to snarl.

"I saw the girls you're after."

Brick paused, his crimson irises flicking back and forth between his brothers and Ace, unsure of who to look at. "Did you now?" he finally managed, not bothering to keep the growl out of his tone. Boomer on the other hand, had his gaze fixated on Ace's boney form.

"What did you do to them?" He hissed dangerously, his ocean coloured eyes glittering dangerously.

Ace held up his hands defensively, the smirk never leaving his face as he watched the younger man rile himself up.

"Nothing, calm yourself. I just had a little conversation with them… Oh but I did save your girl from cracking her head open." He nodded at Butch as a twisted looking smile crawled up his cheeks.

"Gotta admit, she is one _fine_ looking broad… those eyes of hers, man they'll haunt you…"

Butch made an effort to lunge at him, only to be held back by Boomer and Brick, taking both of them to hold him down on the couch.

"I'll warn you just this once Ace, but it's really not a good idea to rile him up about her." Boomer grunted as he wrapped his arms around his brother's broad torso, forcing him back down. "Considering that he's the one that got you out of prison and the one who can throw you right back in again, it's probably best if you leave her very well alone."

"I fucking warned you Ace: Stay away from her and her sisters. Or I'll tear you apart." Butch snarled, straining against his brothers.

Ace inwardly flinched. If the Butch that he had first met three years ago had said that, he would have laughed and shrugged it off – but now almost four years later – Ace had witnessed first-hand what he was capable of and he didn't doubt for a second that Butch would make use of his promise.

The thin man seethed inwardly. He still hated the raven haired brute in front of him for what he did to his former gang mates. Oh yes, Butch _and_ his brothers would pay dearly for that, but for right now, he would have to wait for the right opportunity to present itself before he started planning his revenge.

Those girls seemed to be his ticket…

Ace glanced about the room carelessly – avoiding looking at the enraged brothers. His wandering gaze rested on the massive, ornate fireplace on the other side of the room and he made his way over to it.

On top of the fire place there were several large, framed life-like drawings, which had obviously been done by a professional. One was of the boys and their father when they looked to be about ten, taken out on the mansion's front steps, another was of the boys again –obviously older in this one – grinning and smirking attractively.

The final one was of a woman that Ace couldn't remember seeing before. She had pale, almost white skin with tiny freckles dotting her cheeks, accompanied by long, dark hair and piercing, pale green eyes that seemed to be focused on something far away. Her blood red lips were pulled downwards, making her look absolutely miserable. A small crack in the glass frame obscured the rest of her features, almost as if it had been put there deliberately.

Ace grunted, and was about to move away when he caught sight of one last picture hiding behind the one of the strange woman. Reaching back behind it, he pulled it out – blowing some dust off it as he did – and held it up to see.

This one had a date. _February 15_ _th_ _, 1815_. Looking below the date, Ace sucked in a breath as his eyes widened in surprise.

Staring back up at him were six children, three boys and three girls, two with blonde hair, two with black and two with red. The blonde pair was holding hands and smiling directly at him, meanwhile the raven haired duo seemed to be in the middle of a wrestling match – pulling at each other's hair and clothes. Finally the red haired children were simply standing side by side, looking stoically ahead of them, shoulders brushing slightly.

Ace could immediately tell that the three little boys were Brick, Boomer and Butch but it took him a minute to figure out who the girls were and why they seemed so familiar to him.

It clicked a moment later why they looked so familiar. It was the same girls from earlier – younger – but it was undeniably them.

"Just what do these girls mean to you?" He whispered. There was something else going on here, he could sense it. What it was, he could not say.

"Hey."

Ace whirled around, placing the photo back where he head grabbed it from, smiling innocently. "What?" He asked. Boomer's scowl deepened as he relinquished his hold on Butch.

"I don't know what you're playing at, but you better knock it off." He warned coldly. Ace just shrugged, moving back to where the brothers were.

"Just trying to make sense of why the three of you want these girls so badly." He responded casually. "Don't get me wrong, they're hot as hell, but that can't be all right?" Brick jerked his head up, giving him a look that was colder then ice.

"That is for us alone, and you not to worry about." He murmured. "For now, your job is to simply keep an eye on them. I trust you can do that with minimal difficulty."

"Yeah, yeah boss. Don't worry. I'm a good little spy." Ace sneered, before he snapped his fingers.

"Oh and before I forget, when I was in town, a new guy showed up."

"Who is it?" Boomer asked.

"He's a hunter of sorts. The town called him in to deal with some kind of beast lurking in the woods?" Ace's voice rose to a questioning tone.

The brothers froze at the mention of the word 'Hunter'.

"What more can you tell us about this hunter character?" Butch asked slowly.

"Apparently he's some type of big game hunter. Him and a couple of the older blokes from town took him into the forest to start setting up some traps. Seemed pretty serious." Ace informed him. "What's going on?"

"Not important right now." Boomer began to tap his foot nervously on the ground. "Is there anything else that you can tell us?"

"No… Wait, yes!" he nodded towards Butch. "Your girl seemed to know him, actually all three of them did."

"Buttercup knows him? Interesting."

"He must be from here." Boomer nodded his head slowly. "That's probably how they know him."

"Did you catch his name?" Brick pressed, Ace nodded.

"A Mitch Michelson sound familiar to any of you?"

"Actually yes." Brick responded glaring sharply. "I'm surprised he came back. I honestly didn't think that he would."

The three lapsed into a stiff silence, shooting each other glares as they had a quiet conversation with each other, lowering their voices so that Ace couldn't overhear them.

" _This hunter is going to be a problem, I know it."_

" _Relax, the next full moon is in a week, we'll take care of him then, just like all the others who came searching for us."_

" _Still, its Mitch, we used to know him…"_

" _Boomer it doesn't matter if we knew him or not, point is: he's actively trying to hunt us. That makes him a threat."_

" _Get him before he gets us."_

" _Exactly Butch."_

" _But the girls know him too, what if they get involved with what he's doing?'_

"…"

" _Well?"_

" _We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it I guess."_

A pregnant silence filled them room, only to be broken by Ace.

"So… Can I go now?" He asked, hopping from one foot to the other. Brick rolled his eyes but waved his hand dismissively. "Yes, you're free to go."

The thin man sent him a sharp toothed smile. "Great, back to my job of stalking – I mean, 'watching' three beautiful woman." He strode past the brothers – ignoring the varying range of furious glares aimed at him – and headed to the door with a skip in his step. Opening the door, he turned to face the triplets again.

"I'll keep you posted on the 'hunter' business and what's going on with your women."

Another sick grin. "I'm really going to enjoy this. I get to be near an exotic beauty, a gem with the loveliest pink eyes, and a little blonde angel – her I _really_ like. What a treat this is."

With a wink of his pink rimmed eyes, he waltzed out the door – slamming it behind him before the three intimidating males could tear him to shreds.

After they were sure Ace was gone, Boomer turned his head to glare at his older, raven haired sibling darkly. Furious cobalt eyes meeting annoyed forest green.

"Can I kill him now?"

"I'm thinking about it."

* * *

 **Authors note:** _50+ REVIEWS! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE, I'M SCREAMING!_

 _and now all of you can see the rapid designation of Townsville, in all of its paranoid glory._

 _The designation of the town was briefly hinted at in chapter 6 however things have only gotten worse since then. After the mayor died, there was no one left in charge to keep the panicked townspeople calm, and so paranoia began to run rampid and everyone is starting to feel the effects._

 _As for the explanation of the life-like pictures: the first camera photo wasn't taken until roughly 1826 or 1827, which is roughly the time period where Lycan takes place currently, however the pictures were done before hand, therefore they had to be drawn professionally. Up until that point in time, all pictures were drawn by professional artists._

 _Ah man, the boys are really going to regret bailing Ace out of prison. I just know it. And of course there's also Princess that the girls have to worry about…_

 _But Mitch finally made his debut! I'm really excited to write about him! He's a total bad-ass that's going to prove to be a challenge for the boys. They'll figure out soon enough that he won't go down without a fight…_

 _Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who's left a review or favourite Lycan. It means the world to me!_

 _Stay amazing lovelies!_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	8. The Hunter

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _The rating of this story is a_ _ **High T**_ _for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned._

 _Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners._

 _The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages._

 ***Cover art was made by the ever lovely N. Risa. Thank you so much darling, I love it! 3**

 ***Lycan now has fanart thanks to the hilarious NyanicornYaY! It's on her DevientART and Tumbler. I died a happy woman.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The Hunter**

 _Darkness comes for you_

 _\- The Wolfman_

 **Bellum manor, December 25** **th** **1829, Christmas Day**

"Merry Christmas Blossom!"

Blossom cracked open one pale pink eye to stare sleepily at Bubbles's slender form; which was perched on top of her down-filled comforter.

Blearily smiling at her youngest sister, the chestnut haired woman sat up slowly; stretching her back as she did so, allowing an audible _pop_ to escape her spine.

"Good morning Bubbles." She murmured softly as she leaned forward to push the comforter off her pale form. "Are you the first one up?"

The blonde nodded vigorously. "I tried getting Buttercup up first, but she kept smacking me away and grumbling profanities, so I figured it would be best to let her wake up on her own."

"That's probably the best idea; Buttercup has never been a morning person."

Blossom allowed a small grin to spread across her lightly freckled cheeks at the thought of her darker sister. It was a true statement; as long as she could remember; her middle sister had always enjoyed sleeping in, as opposed to her and Bubbles who happened to be morning people.

Even Christmas day was no exception.

Blossom shuffled toward her bedroom door, pausing to throw on her house coat over her white, floor-length night-gown. Turning to face her golden haired sister she smiled gently.

"Let's go downstairs and wait for the rest of the family to rise, shall we?"

* * *

As the two sisters descended the grand marble staircase, the powerful sent of pine mixed with holly hit their noses.

The Bellum manor had been completely transformed for the holiday. Ribbons of every colour had been strung up around the downstairs; giving a festive sort of air to the house, while other sorts of Christmas decorations covered every nook and cranny of the house – courtesy of nanny – who had left the house for a week in order to visit with some family, and wouldn't be returning until after the New Year.

As Blossom and Bubbles moved into the living room they were both greeted with the sight of the massive fourteen-foot tall pine tree that sat in the middle of the large, vaulted ceiling room – curtsey of their father – that had it delivered to the house a few days prior. Tinsel and colourful Christmas decorations hung off of its thick, green branches; glowing softly in the pale morning light peering through the casement windows.

Around the base of the tree were some brightly wrapped presents, scattered about on the floor. Bubbles squeaked excitedly as she eyed them. "I love opening presents." She murmured as she clung to Blossom's arm. "I just feel bad; I didn't get the chance to do any real Christmas shopping for the family this year, since we've been here."

"You can get them something at a later date." Blossom assured her blue eyed sister. "I didn't get to do any shopping myself and I know that Buttercup didn't either…"

"What about me?"

The tired yawn caused Blossom and Bubbles to turn around to see Buttercup rubbing sleep from her eyes, her pale white nightgown clinging messily to her lean frame.

"Good morning, you're up surprisingly early." Blossom greeted her midnight haired sister with a grin. "We were just saying how none of us got to do any actual Christmas shopping this year."

Buttercup shrugged as she eyed the massive pine tree, inhaling deeply. "I don't think that anyone did to be honest. Dad's been messing around with Mojo, trying to figure out what's going on with the forest, mum's been here tending to Gran, and ever since the bar incident dad hasn't let us go back into town without an escort of some kind."

She crinkled her nose slightly. "Speaking of the ape man, wasn't dad supposed to go to the estate to work with him after our trip into town? I don't remember him going."

"He didn't. Mojo sent him a letter the next morning informing him that Brick, Butch and Boomer had come down with some kind of fever, and told him not to come. Apparently it might have been contagious." Bubbles informed her. "We were supposed to go with him, remember? I wonder how Boomer's doing…" she wondered idly.

"Mh." Buttercup hummed as she nodded her head. "That's right, and we were supposed to take Princess with us apparently." She cringed.

"Only reason she wants to meet them is because they're wealthy and she wants a rich spouse. Then she'll just take all their money, I guarantee you. If they fall for her tricks, they're even dumber than I thought."

"I can't say that I disagree with anything that you're saying." Blossom admitted. "Something tells me that they're smarter than that though… hopefully."

"Yeah, unlike the last few dukes she tricked." Buttercup muttered darkly. "Still don't know how she gets away with it."

"It's one of life's greatest mysteries." Bubbles giggled. She paused her giggling as a frown came over her face.

"Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the boys sick with some kind of fever last month too? When we saw them at Uncle's funeral… they didn't look too good. When I asked, Boomer said it was some kind of fever then as well…"

"Well, it's that time of year I guess." Blossom sighed as she processed to sink cross-legged onto the floor; her sisters following suit,

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Bubbles, it's very cold around these parts, and the boys live father out of the way – where the weather conditions are worse. Maybe that has something to do with it."

Bubbles shrugged, "I guess. It's just rare to have a fever come back so soon." She mused.

"It is, isn't it?" Blossom agreed. The three sisters sat quietly underneath the decorated tree, until the sounds of the rest of their family were heard stomping down the stairs a few minutes later.

John peered around the corner to stare at his children, a small smile gracing his tired features. "Good morning girls! Merry Christmas!" he greeted them cheerfully.

"Merry Christmas Papa!" They responded sumptuously, as Sara appeared from around her husband, flashing a bright smile at her daughters. "Merry Christmas girls." she cooed at them gently.

"I think that I'm going to get some breakfast started, can the three of you keep an eye on Gran?" she asked as she wrapped her red robe tighter around her voluptuous frame. Blossom nodded. "Of course mama, is she feeling any better?" Sara's smile dropped slightly as she ushered her tiny mother past her, and into the living room.

"No, she's still not very responsive." She responded as she watched the frail woman climb onto one of the couches next to her granddaughters. "It's like she's caught up in her own little world. She won't talk to me and she barely eats anything. Maybe if the three of you talked to her, she would be a little more… active."

Sara looked sadly at her mother before brushing past John. "I'm going to start on breakfast. Girls if you could keep an eye on her, I would appreciate it."

"I'll help you!" John offered quickly as he followed his wife towards the kitchen, leaving his daughters alone with their Grandmother.

The tiny woman folded her hands onto her lap as she stared straight ahead of her, eyes looking at nothing as she stared off into the distance.

Buttercup waved a hand in front of her face timidly. "Gran? You in there?" she asked. "Buttercup!" Blossom groaned as she grabbed her arm, placing it down at her side, "That's not going to help anything."

"Nothings worked yet." Bubbles mumbled sadly as she rested her chin on her knees. "She's so hollow. I don't think she even knows who we are. She keeps calling me Felicity whenever I talk to her. I don't know anyone by that name, do you?" she asked, peeking up her older sisters from underneath her eyelashes.

"Doesn't mum have a cousin by that name?" Buttercup muttered as she cast a worried look at her Grandmother, who hadn't moved from her spot on the couch.

Blossom nodded. "From what I can remember, I think she does. I don't think we ever met her though. I was under the impression that she lived out in Megaville. Maybe she and mum lived here together at some point."

"So… Gran's almost going back in time?" Bubbles asked, adopting a quizzical look. Blossom shrugged as she let out a defeated sigh.

"Who knows what's going on in her head right now. I think she may be suffering from shock as well as depression. It would explain some of the symptoms that she's experiencing – I read it in one of papa's medical books." She explained as both Buttercup and Bubbles shot her confused looks.

"Maybe." Buttercup muttered uncertainly. "I just hope she comes back to reality soon. No offence to her, but her comatose state – whatever it is – Is really starting to weird me out."

"Same here, you're not alone." Bubbles agreed gently as she waved at the older woman. "Hello Grandma!"

The tiny woman's head turned a quarter of an inch toward Bubbles – her blue eyes faded and clouded over – as she met the clear blue eyes of her youngest granddaughter. A small smile appeared as she gazed fondly at her.

"Ah Felicity darling, it's so good that your back in Townsville again. Why did you move so far away? I know that the woods scared you, but their better now. So much better…" she sighed as she brushed a few long, white strands of hair away from her face, before resuming her previous position of staring out the window at nothing in particular.

Bubbles jutted her chin towards the frail old woman. "You see?"

"Maybe you remind her of her?" Buttercup said. "Apparently Aunt Felicity had blonde hair and blue eyes like you. At least, that's what mum said."

Blossom however could only stare at her grandmother. "What was that about the woods?"

 _ **Knock knock**_

A polite knock on the manor's front doors interrupted Blossom, causing all three girls to turn and stare in the direction of the foyer.

Their Grandmother turned to gaze thoughtfully in the direction of the door as well. There was a brief moment of silence between them before the older woman turned to Buttercup and smiled.

"I think someone's at the door."

"Obviously Gran." Buttercup groaned as she placed her head in the palm of her hand.

"Girls? Could one you get that please? I don't want to burn the bacon!" Their father's voice echoed from the kitchen.

"I'll get it!" Buttercup called back as she stood stiffly, holding out her hands to pull her sisters up as well. "Let's go see who it is, we'll come back for Gran in a minute." She turned to face the elderly woman.

"Stay here."

"Buttercup, don't talk to her like she's a child." Bubbles scolded gently.

"She might as well be one; with her mind the way it is now." Buttercup responded as she led the way to the front doors.

"I just don't want her wandering off. Last time she did, mum panicked and it took her over an hour to find her – I don't think she responds to her name anymore."

She sighed as she reached the front doors. Her hand rested on the handle as she turned to face them.

"Is either of you expecting any packages or mail?"

Bubbles and Blossom shook their heads. "It's Christmas. Everyone has the day off today." Bubbles pointed out.

"Good point." Buttercup commented as she yanked the door open, squinting as the cold winter air hit her face.

"Well, Jesus it's about time Butters. I almost froze waiting for you to get the door open."

"Mitch!" Buttercup laughed delightedly as she wrapped the taller male in a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I was actually on my way to run an errand of sorts and I was passing by here. I figured I'd come say hi before I left." He grinned as he ran a hand though his shaggy brown hair, dislodging some snow that had begun to form in the darker locks.

"Merry Christmas to you as well!" Bubbles chirped as she smiled at him. Mitch grinned at her.

"Hey Bubbly, nice to see you haven't changed much. Still the Joy and Laughter of the three of you I see."

Bubbles giggled as he referred to her nickname she had when she was younger. "Of course, you expected anything else?"

"No, we need more people like you. Or at least, this town does anyways." Mitch muttered as he cast a look over his shoulder, where the rest of Townsville lay.

"Would you like to come inside Mitch? It's freezing out here. We were just about to have breakfast, would you like to join us?" Blossom asked, causing Mitch to turn back around to give her a small smile.

"As tempting as that sounds Bloss, I'm actually on a tight schedule today. I gotta head out of town for a bit and gather some more information about what exactly I'm dealing with here, then I gotta head back into the forest to check on the traps that I set up with some of the other hunters."

"Do you think you caught anything?" Blossom asked.

"No, at least; not what's been causing all of the mess around here." Mitch admitted. "I have to go make sure all of the traps are still working and if anything has been caught in them, I'll let it go. Full moon hasn't happened yet, and that's supposedly when this thing is most active."

"Be careful." Buttercup advised. "I don't know what's out there, but whatever it is, it has the whole town terrified. They tend to avoid the forest like it's the plague if you haven't noticed."

"Oh I've noticed." Mitch confirmed with a sigh. He glanced down at his watch, tapping the face gently. He let out another tired sigh as he raised his head to look at the three girls in front of him.

"Well ladies it's been fun, but I have to head out now. I don't know how long I'm going to be with my errand, but I want check the traps while it's still light out. I never liked being in the forest after dark. It always had this... I don't know… sinister feeling about it." Mitch confessed.

He carefully maneuvered himself down the icy steps leading up toward the house and back to his horse. Hoisting himself up, he raised an arm, waving at them as he rode off.

"Bye girls, Merry Christmas!" he called out to them.

The girls watched him ride off until they could no longer see his silhouette, before closing the door and locking it behind them.

Light footsteps approached them from behind. "Girls? Who was that?" John asked them gently as he shrugged off his grease splattered apron.

"Just Mitch coming to say hello." Buttercup answered curtly as she sniffed the air.

"Breakfast smells really good dad, I'm proud of you – you didn't burn anything like last time."

The professor chuckled nervously as he thought about the several pieces of burnt toast and blackened eggs that he had to chuck into the garbage before his wife saw.

"Ha, yes nothing got burnt this time." he lied quickly. He peeked out through one of the windows by the door, frowning as he watched a light snow begin to fall.

"He didn't want to stay for breakfast I take it."

"He had an errand to run and he didn't know how long it would take." Blossom relayed to him. "He wanted to have enough daylight in order to check the traps that he placed in the forest – he didn't want to be out there after dark."

"Can't say I blame him." John muttered. "Did he say where he was going?"

Bubbles shook her head. "He didn't say. Apparently he's going to a place where they might have some information about the thing he's hunting."

John paused. _The Gypsy Camp. He had to be going there. There was no other place he could think of that had some type of answer to what the_ thing _he had seen was._

John let out a shuddering sigh. "Well – I hope he finds what he's looking for then."

He glanced back in the direction of the kitchen. "Come on girls, breakfast is ready. Go fetch your Grandma and we'll all eat together."

* * *

 **Gypsy campgrounds**

"Jesus H. Christ – It's worse than I thought."

Mitch put a hand over his mouth as his eyes took in the scene before him.

The remints of the campgrounds looked like a battle field – even a month later. Tattered piles of ruined tents were scattered about the area, as a few disgruntled gypsy's searched through them – trying to find misplaced items within them. The visible earth around the campsite was scorched from various fires that had blazed out of control during the attack – and some parts of the ground… were stained brown.

Mitch knew that the random patches of brown weren't dead grass either.

Mitch cringed inwardly as he trailed a particularly large splatter of brown all through-out the campsite. Several other splotches of brown were smeared around it, painting a grisly picture in the hunter's mind.

"Poor bastard must have gotten dragged all throughout the camp." Mitch muttered as he absentmindedly reached into his coat pocket for a cigarette.

"And judging from the other blood trails around it… He didn't die immediately either."

Quickly lighting the white stick; he inhaled the burning tobacco, letting a blue tinged cloud out though his nostrils as he took in the destruction around him.

Turning to his right he witnessed a scene that caused his jaw to go slack – cigarette nearly falling out of his mouth in the process.

There, just a little outside of the main part of camp; was a mass grave.

The area had been completely dug up; creating a pit that was several feet deep and at least an acer across. A few tired looking gypsy's were digging father down into the frozen earth, while several others were carefully placing bodies that were wrapped in stained sheets down into the massive hole.

"Forget burial grounds, these guys are going to need a morgue soon." Mitch muttered darkly, as he turned away from the grizzly scene.

"You got that right. The little beasties don't tend to leave too many alive when their pissed off enough. Not many survive when dealing with them."

Mitch spun around at the sound of the high-pitched voice, only to find a thin blonde woman with her hair in long pigtails standing behind him, her cold blue eyes staring him down unkindly.

Mitch stamped out his cigarette as he stared back in disbelieve.

"Bubbles?!"

The woman wrinkled her nose at the name.

"Don't know who that is cuite. I'm _Brat."_

"Sorry, it's just – you look like a girl I know." Mitch apologised as he rubbed at his wrist nervously. "I'm-"

"I know who you are _hunter._ My sisters and I have been expecting you for a while now."

"You have?" Mitch asked confused. "Can I ask how?"

"My older sister saw you coming in one of her incense induced visions. She has a bit of a gift."

"Visions?" Mitch asked quirking a brow, "Like a seer of sorts?"

He was rewarded with a cool smile.

"Very good little hunter. You catch on fast – unlike that daft professor that visited us last." She muttered the last part.

"Professor? Hold on, do you mean John Utonium? He's the only person I know who has that title. Has he been here already?" Mitch asked confused, casing Brat to shake her head.

"Follow me. It's best that we talk somewhere that's not out in the open. Some of the people here might not be so thrilled at your presence."

Brat nodded to some of the other gypsy's who had stopped to shoot him unfriendly looks. Mitch nodded.

"Alright, but I want some answers. Maybe you can help me." He told Brat as he allowed her to lead him through the wreckage of the campgrounds.

"My sisters and I have some answers." Brat informed him airily, as she pulled him along.

"The question is whether you listen to them or not."

* * *

"I found him! He stuck out like you wouldn't believe."

Brat called into the spacious tent that she had led Mitch to. The lanky man bent down to enter the tent door, tying it shut behind him.

"It wasn't meant to be hard." growled another voice from father back in the tent. Mitch straightened slightly to see another woman sitting on the ground with her legs tucked underneath her.

Her inky black hair was shaved close to the sides of her head, leaving the middle section wild and untamed. Her arms were decorated in black ink that seemed to dance as she crossed her arms upon seeing him, and her kelly green eyes narrowed like a cats as she glared at him.

"Good morning hunter. I was wondering when you would make an appearance."

"Ah, it's Mitch." He moved forward slightly with the intent to shake the darker woman's hand, but paused when she shook her head.

"Brute." She told him curtly as she examined him. "Brat's older sister."

"What are you two going on about?" A third voice interrupted from farther back in the tent. A curtain was pushed back roughly to reveal a third woman with long auburn hair that was tied back and braided. Her cold red eyes flashed dangerously as they landed on him.

"Brute is he the one that you saw?" she hissed to her tattoo covered sister.

"That's him." The charcoal haired woman confirmed.

"Hello I'm-"

"Mitch. I heard." The red eyed woman interrupted with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm Berserk; Brat and Brute's eldest sister."

Mitch paused as Brat moved out from behind him to stand beside her elder sisters, allowing him to get a better look at the three women. He squinted as he looked closer at them.

"You know, I have some female friends that the three of you look similar too – but I also used to know a group of boys from my childhood that you share a lot of similarities with. I don't know if you'd know them though."

Berserk quirked an eyebrow. "It seems that we're being compared to a lot of people now days, do tell."

"Mitch shrugged. "From what I've heard, they actually still live up in the mansion just outside of Townsville – their surname is Jojo."

At the mention of the last name, all three women quieted. A heavy silence filled the air in the tent as no one said anything for a few tense moments. Finally Berserk broke the silence with a tense "No… No, it's not familiar to us."

Mitch shrugged again. "Suit yourself, you three look a lot like them though, or maybe they look a lot like you, I don't know. I just thought you might know them."

"I wish we didn't." Brat muttered, only to get roughly elbowed by Brute a second later. The green eyed woman shot the pigtailed blonde a warning look before redirecting her attention back to Mitch.

"I saw you coming earlier in a vision. What is it that you want?"

"I take it you're some type of seer?" Mitch asked, receiving a small nod from Brute.

"It's a gift of sorts that runs in our family. Brat and Berserk have it as well, but my visions are the most… potent."

She eyed him. "You don't seem very sceptical like the others – like that professor."

"My Grandma had some friends who were gypsy's that had similar abilities. " Mitch explained briefly. "I learned not to judge. Besides, after some of the things that I've seen over the years – it's pretty tame in comparison."

He frowned. "Has professor Utonium been here to see you?"

Berserk nodded. "He came last month… during the full moon, looking for answers like you. He was sceptical about the creature that is responsible for this mess – and I still think he is – even after witnessing the massacre of our camp."

"He was there for that? Christ…" Mitch trailed off shocked. He was silent for a few moments before he looked at the three females seriously.

"Do you know what is responsible for these attacks?"

"You could say that yes." Brat grinned nastily. "What have the bums from town told you?"

"Some of the hunters I was with earlier were saying all sorts of things." Mitch admitted. "None of them good – Some think it's some type of vicious hybrid, others think it's some kind of evil spirt, and one particular thinks it's the devil."

"Well their not far off." Brute muttered under her breath. "What do you think?"

"Truthfully? I haven't got a clue. One of the hunters suggested that I come here and get some answers. Everyone is saying different things, so I have no way of knowing what is true and what is false."

He crossed his arms. "I'm not above thinking that it could be possibly some sort of supernatural occurrence, unlike some people. My years as a hunter have proved to me that anything is possible. The family business required me to have an open mind." He chuckled.

"And my Grandma – bless her. The God fearing woman she is."

He pursed his lips. "'Course, I still need to have some type of proof before I jump to that conclusion. It's usually a last resort."

Berserk smiled coldly. "Of course. I wouldn't expect anything less from Townspeople."

She moved forward so she was standing nose to nose with him, her cold red eyes washing over him like a bucket of freezing water.

"Have you ever heard tales of the Lycan?"

"What werewolf's?" Mitch corrected. "As a kid yeah. They were my favourites."

"Well then. There's your answer."

Mitch stared back at her. "A werewolf is behind this?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

Berserk chuckled, pulling a silver medallion from underneath her shirt, holding it up for him to see, allowing Mitch to see the design of a wolf howling under a full moon.

"Lycan's are difficult beasts. Man by day, beast by night. You won't ever see one coming until it's too late." She informed him as she tucked the medallion back under her clothes.

"I don't expect you to believe me. The professor didn't and look what happened." She gestured to the tent walls. "Sad part is – the poor fool is trying to delude himself into thinking otherwise."

"I – I'm going to need some proof before I believe that it's a werewolf." Mitch muttered as he rubbed at his wrist. "I'll keep it in mind though. The town is starting to believe it's some kind of devil anyways."

"At least this one is actually listening." Brat commented snidely from behind Berserk. "Just wait until the next full moon. That's in what…? Five or so days? You'll believe us then."

 _The thing only hunts on a full moon._ Mitch remembered hearing one of the hunters say.

 _No._ He thought. _No, it's just a coincidence. Granted, you've seen some weird shit during your time as a professional hunter, but this can't be…_

"You seem very sure this is what it is." Mitch replied, keeping his voice level. "If you're certain about it, then why don't you do anything?"

Brat snickered. "I'm a _gypsy,_ not _suicidal._ I wouldn't get near those things with a ten foot pole."

"Wait, _THINGS?"_ Mitch echoed, "What do you mean by-"

The sound of church bells echoed off on the distance, cutting him off. He was silent as he counted how many times he heard the bells ring.

 _One, two, three, four – silence._

"Shit, it's already two in the afternoon?" Mitch muttered sourly.

"I'm sorry ladies, I have to go. I have some traps to check in the forest and I'd like to do so before night falls. Sunset is at five today I believe." He explained as he checked the area around him, making sure that he had all of his belongings.

Berserk nodded. "Keep in mind what I told you, and maybe – just maybe – you can survive the upcoming moon."

Mitch winced as he pushed the tent flaps open, Berserk following him out and into the frosty air. He turned back around and nodded politely to the red eyed woman.

"Thank you for your time Miss. I appreciate it." he informed her.

She nodded stiffly. "Stay safe hunter. It would appear you're the only one with half a brain around these parts."

"Sometimes I wonder." Mitch grumbled as he hoisted himself up onto his horse. "Take care Berserk."

"Hold on wait." Berserk sighed softly as she looked up at him.

"Silver is a man's best friend. Not gold."

Before Mitch had the chance to ask her what she meant, she turned around and swiftly walked back inside the tent, the flap swinging shut behind her.

Shaking his head, he rode out of the destroyed campsite and back toward town, pondering over her words.

He was halfway back into town when the meaning behind the words finally hit him.

In the stories he had been told as a child, _silver_ always had an advantage over any type of dark beast – including Lycan's.

Mitch shook his head. _This was crazy; there was no way it could be that. Could it?_

Still though – there were somethings going on in the woods that could not be explained by normal means.

Mitch cast a look towards the foreboding woods and a chill raced down his spine.

As a child, he had been warned never to go in there alone after dark. He was aware of the grisly murders that happened inside the forested grounds – and had been happening for years – and he knew that something seriously wrong with the area.

He sighed again as he rode into town, slowing into a trot. As he made his way through town, he passed by one of the only open shops in the town square: The forge.

He pulled on the reins, forcing his horse to stop outside of the shop as he eyed it hesitantly.

 _Silver._

 _Silver Bullets._

 _No. This is crazy, it can't be…_

 _It may be the one thing that saves you from death if it comes down to it._

Mitch groaned irritably as his thoughts fought for control in his skull. He eyed the forge again, before looking towards the dead looking forest.

He sighed.

"Fuck it." He muttered as he slid off the saddle and entered the forge.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

"God damn it… This is… horrible…"

"I agree – Why are the pains so early? Usually we don't get then until a day or two before the moon…"

"Both of you be quiet." Brick snarled harshly from his spot on the sofa. "They've just come earlier than normal this time. No big deal, it's happened before – it'll pass soon enough."

The crimson eyed male groaned as another wave of nausea hit him, forcing him to lie back on the floor as he broke out into a cold sweat. He rubbed at his face tiredly as his – now extremely sharp canines – chattered slightly.

He didn't blame his brothers for complaining – The pre-moon transformation pains were worse than normal this time around – more so then usual. Boomer was suffering from crippling headaches; Butch was twitching and shaking more than usual, and as for him – if he even made the slightest of movements he felt as if he was going to throw up.

And he had – a couple of times.

After waking up that morning to find their bodies screaming in agony, the three had simutaiously agreed to lock themselves away in the mansions living room – away from their father and Ace – the latter, who was roaming the hallways, trying to figure out why the brother were acting so strangely.

To their credit, both had the good sense not to barge in on the pained males, instead allowing them their privacy.

Brick's ear twitched slightly as he caught the sound of light footsteps – which he identified ad their fathers' – moving quickly toward the living rooms closed double doors.

He stifled a sigh. He should have known that the peace and quiet wouldn't have lasted.

A moment later, one of the doors opened and then shut again. The quiet footsteps making their way over to the sofa that Brick was lying next to.

"Children?"

Mojo's accented voice echoed around the living room, causing Boomer to groan and cover his ears at the sound.

Brick shifted slightly so he was looking up at his short father, who was now taller than him due to his current position. "What dad?"

Mojo met his eldest son's irritated red irises and huffed. "The new… "help" that you hired wanted me to inform you three that this "hunter" has set up traps by the abandoned church in the forest. Apparently they are going to try and trap the three of you – Not that he knows this of course."

Brick snorted. "They can try."

"Since when has trapping us ever worked?" Butch growled off to his left. "All the ones who tried are dead."

Mojo shifted his blood shot eyes to his middle son. "The… "help" – If you even want to call him that – informed me that you three know this new… "hunter". Apparently he means business, if the town called him in."

"He's just a boy previously from the town." Boomer supplied as he rubbed at his temples, trying to ease the pain. "We knew of him when we were kids. Apparently his whole family are some special brand of big game hunters."

Mojo sighed. "He still poses a threat, more so then the professor. I would be worried about him if I were you three."

Butch let out a sound between a growl and a laugh. "We'll keep an eye out for him during the moon then, yeah?"

Mojo rolled his eyes irritably at the dark haired male. "You do not get to be sarcastic about these kinds of matters, considering that you are least in control of yourself when you transform. Look what happened last full moon: you killed my creations."

He glared accusingly at the barrel chested male, casing Butch to flinch slightly at the mention of the Amoeba Bros, but other than that he stood his ground.

"So? What's the problem? They were useless anyways, and disobedient. They couldn't follow an order without fucking it up somehow-"

He was cut off suddenly as his body contorted into a spasm, his muscles locking up as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Mojo waited until the seizure had passed before continuing.

"You do not get to make that call my son. I could say the same thing about you sometimes. They were my first creations…"

"They were failures, by-products!" Butch choked out as he struggled to control his breathing. "They didn't even have a solid form!"

"They were still better than this… certain that you've brought into my home." Mojo growled threateningly.

"I want him disposed of as soon as you are done with him. Understood?"

Butch glared back at his father hatefully as another spasm ran though him. Brick took the initiative.

"Crystal Sir." He wheezed out as another wave of nausea hit him hard.

Mojo nodded. "Good. I'm glad we are at an understanding."

Brick lowered his head back down as Mojo tuned around. He listened to the sounds of his footsteps reach the door and then pause. He was quiet as he waited expectantly for what his father was going to tell them.

"Be careful out there my sons. It would appear some people are catching on to our little secret that we have."

And with that, he opened the door and slipped out, shutting it behind him. Boomer let out a cold laugh at the statement.

"You be careful too dad. You be careful too."

* * *

 _December 30_ _th_ _, 1829, Bellum Manor, night of the full moon._

"John, darling, really, I don't think that it's necessary to barricade the front door."

"Oh trust me Sara, it is." John huffed as he pushed the heavy oak desk from the downstairs study against the front doors.

Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles sat on the marble steps of the manors staircase, watching as their father completely sealed off the front door of the house.

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Bubbles whispered worriedly as she watched as her father exit the room only to return moments later, dragging a bookcase from the living room.

"Sure seems like it." Buttercup muttered as her mother began tugging the bookcase back to the living room.

"I'm more concerned about the thing he's so intent on keeping out." Blossom stated. "He knows what it's capable of doing."

"Yes but Blossom, don't you think that this is – I don't know, overkill?" Buttercup asked.

Blossom shot her midnight haired sister a look. "Need I remind you what happened to the gypsy camp?"

"Point taken."

"What is it though?" Bubbles whimpered as she turned to peek out one of the large windows behind them.

A full moon glowed brightly in the pitch black sky above them. She pointed it out to her older sisters.

"Tonight's the night of the full moon. Everyone was saying that this… hybrid, attacks then!" the golden blonde girl pointed out. "Do you think that it will tonight?" she asked nervously.

Blossom wrapped an arm around her. "I have no idea Bubbles, hopefully not; but if it does; Mitch and the other hunters have traps waiting for it. And we're safe in here." she added gently.

Buttercup snorted. "Dad doesn't think so." She jutted her chin down to the main floor where their father had grabbed a side table and had lodged it against the door, much to their mother's protest.

"Besides, no one knows for sure what it is anyways. Papa only called it that because he doesn't have a name for it yet." Buttercup pointed out, causing Blossom to send her a dirty look.

Buttercup threw her hands up in protest. "I'm just saying." She defended herself. She glanced longingly out the window. "I'd love to see what this thing is though… I want to see it for myself…"

"No you don't." Bubbles corrected her. "Look what it did to Uncle Eugene and Grandpa, and all of those poor gypsy's… and half the town!"

"Not like that." Buttercup shook her head. "I just want to see what the thing looks like. Bloss, don't tell me that you're not curious."

"As tempting as it is to finally see this mysterious creature, I think its best if we stay far out of its way." The rose orbed woman replied softly. "Least we get ourselves killed in the process."

Buttercup sighed in defeat. "Fine then, I can't argue with that. I'm going to go get changed into something more comfortable. Something tells me that we won't be getting much sleep tonight."

She pointed to where their father was frantically looking for more items to barricade the doors with. Blossom and Bubbles both sighed.

"I think I'm going to do the same." Bubbles shrugged off Blossom's arm as she followed her green eyed sister up the stairs. "It's going to be a long night."

* * *

 **Townsville Forest**

Mitch eyed the small group of hunters who had joined him back at the old church in the middle of the woods.

He had to give them credit – while they weren't the brightest, they had courage. The fact that they were willing to come out into the woods with him at might-night, with a dangerous beast running loose was evidence enough.

"Right then." He spoke above the dull murmurs of the men surrounding him, waiting until they were silent before continuing.

"First off, I'd like to thank all of you for coming out with me tonight. I'm sure it will be… unforgettable." He muttered as he cast a look up into the star filled heavens above.

"If any of you want to leave, now would be the time. It's still early in the night and these things have still yet to make an appearance. If you want to leave, I will not judge you." He assured the small group of men. A few murmurs rose up from the crowd, but no one moved.

Mitch nodded. "Alright then. Hopefully tonight will be a peacefully one. I was informed that the attacks don't always happen every full moon – but I have a feeling that we're going to meet this thing at some point tonight, so I need all of you to be ready for when we do."

His fingers traced over his shotgun, before heading to his ammo pouch.

Eight specially made silver bullets resided inside the leather casing. The blacksmith had looked at him as if he had grown a second head when he requested them to be made – but he couldn't care less.

Inwardly he felt a little silly letting the gypsy sisters he had come across scare him like that but… They were so convinced that they knew what the creature was, that it unnerved him – enough to take extra precautions.

That and he knew better then to laugh at gypsies. His grandmother had known several and always had them over at their house when he was younger – weather it was cleansing the house or telling him old pagan stories – he knew that they weren't as crazy as most were lead to believe.

Besides – he had seen his own fair share of wild, unexplainable things while he was hunting in the rural parts of America. This… was not the craziest thing he had done on a hunt.

In all honesty, it was actually quite tame compared to some of the other things he had done…

Mitch shook his head; this was not the time to be thinking about that right now. He locked his dark brown eyes on the men in front of him.

"We're going to wait for it here." he gestured to the rotting church behind him. "We've already trapped the area and we can take cover inside the church if we need to."

"Sir?" A younger hunter from the group spoke up, Mitch nodded for him to speak.

"Why haven't we baited it?" he asked, causing some whispers to start up. Mitch only chuckled darkly.

"Trust me. If this thing is out and about tonight, it's going to come for us regardless. Don't you worry. I didn't bait it because _we are_ the bait."

A cold silence over took the group. Mitch sighed and began to move off towards the church. "Anyways, until this thing makes an appearance, just keep your guards up. I have no idea what it looks like, but I get the feeling I'll know when I see it – SHIT!"

He yelped shocked, as the ground beneath his feet suddenly fell away into darkness below. Frantically, he grabbed on to a tree root that was sticking out of the ground as he hoisted himself back up. A few of the hunters ran over to make sure he was alright.

"You alright mate?" One of them asked concerned. Mitch nodded.

"Fine, just startled. What is that? A pitfall?" he asked, eyeing the dark crevice that he had almost fallen into.

"No mate, it's the catacombs that run underneath the old church." The same hunter supplied. "When the church out here began to fall into disarray, the ground surrounding it began to open up, revealing the basement and catacombs. It wasn't the most structurally stable place."

"Are there more crevices hidden around here?" Mitch asked. The hunter nodded.

"They're everywhere. That's why you gotten watch your step around this area. Usually if you step on one you'll be ok, but I guess all the loosely packed dirt on top of it couldn't support the snow and your weight at the same time."

"What's down there?" Mitch asked as he peered down into the darkness below.

The hunter shrugged as he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. "Not much, I've been down there a couple of times. Just what's left of the corridors – and some massive rats, but nothing that can hurt you. It's just creepy down there."

Mitch nodded. "Good. This is actually perfect." He informed the confused men. "If this thing comes charging at us, we can lure them into the catacombs and trap them that way." He explained. "It'll make it much easier to kill it then."

The hunters eyes lit up as they began to chat amount themselves – only to fall silent as a bone chilling howl cut across the still air of the forest.

" _ **ARRRROOOOOOWWWWRROOOO…"**_

Mitch spun to face the direction of the sound, only to see barren tress with a slight fog coming though them. He turned back around to see the other hunters frozen as the sounds ricocheted around the forest.

"The hell is that? Wolfs?" Mitch questioned. A hunter with a large beard slowly shook his head and Mitch briefly recognised him as the hunter who had told him to go to the gypsy campsite in the first place.

"No." The older man rumbled. "That's not wolfs. They don't come this far out."

"What is it then?" Mitch muttered as he listened closer to the sounds. The more he listened, the less it sounded like a normal wolf. The sounds were deeper, louder and… angrier

The bearded hunter shook his head as he moved to stand closer to him.

"Remember how I told you that I was one of the ones who helped take the victims to the morgue?" he asked, avoiding Mitch's question. Mitch nodded.

"Well, the morgue keeper _did_ find something interesting about the bodies that had been torn apart."

"What did he find?" Mitch growled as he carefully placed a bullet in the slot of his shotgun, not bothering to take his eyes off the surrounding trees.

"He determined from the bite marks that there was a second thing. Possibly a third."

Mitch's breath cut off for a moment as he clicked the bullet into the chamber of the gun. His head slowly turned to face the older hunter.

"and you're only telling me this _now?"_ he hissed as the enraged howls drew nearer. "This would have been some useful information to have earlier!"

The older hunter shook his head again. "It won't help if this thing gets hold of you. Apparently the professor knew too. I don't know if he saw all three when he was at the gypsy site though."

"Wait, he's seen-"

" **RRROOOAAAAAAAWWWRRRRRRRRWWWWOOOOO."**

The deafening sound emanated in front of the group of hunters, causing them to scatter back toward the church in a frightened panic. Mitch ran up to the top of the crumbling church steps as he sunk on to one knee, the other hunter at his side – shotgun loaded and mounted on his shoulder – ready and waiting.

Nothing emerged from the fog.

"They're here." the withered looking hunter muttered. "May god have mercy on our souls."

"Sir?" A call to Mitch's right sounded, but he didn't dare take his eyes off of the trees in front of him.

"Stay calm!" he called out. "It's trying to psych us out. Just get ready!"

Mitch tightened his grip on his shotgun, eyeing the foggy surroundings, as the blood-curdling howls echoed off the dead trees.

"Here they come."

* * *

 _There._

 _People._

 _Fresh meat._

 _So hungry…_

 _I want…_

 _I want_ _ **BLOOD.**_

 _I see you._

 _You can't see me._

 _Ready or not…_

 _ **HERE I COME.**_

" **AWWWWWRRRROOOOOOO"**

* * *

 **Gypsy campgrounds**

Brat cringed as she peered out of the tent flap, her cerulean blue eyes glued to the full moon high above the snowy ground.

"Brat get back in here. Stop staring at the moon. It won't go away just by you looking at it."

Brute growled gruffly without opening her eyes. A small pot of incense was on the floor beside her as she chanted out quiet prayers.

Brat sighed as she moved back inside the warmth of the tent, re-tying the strings after her. She glanced nervously at her tattoo covered sister.

"Do you think that maybe… they've locked themselves in the crypt this time around? Maybe they won't attack anyone this time…" she pulled at her long blonde hair as she fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Doubt it." Brute snorted as she cracked open one of her kelly green eyes before closing it again. She ran an ink covered hand though her short black mane.

"They won't be locked up tonight. Not with the hunter here. They'll probably try and take him out. You know what they're like towards people who try and trap them."

"Yeah. Yeah. I know." Brat sighed. "I find it ironic that our little friend knew them in his childhood-"

"Doesn't matter now. That's ancient history. What matters is here and now, and I _know_ for a fact those _beasts_ aren't going to let him walk away unscathed." Berserk spoke up from the back of the tent.

She nodded at Brute, who was still inhaling incense. "Do you see anything yet?"

Brute shook her head. "Nothing. Just darkness."

The red eyed woman sighed as she calmly braided her long auburn hair. "If our little hunter has any sense at all; he'll listen to what we told him earlier. That's all we can do. Besides, if those beasts are loose now, be thankful that we're not their targets again."

"Fucking Mojo." Brute snarled, opening her dark green irises. "What does he think he's playing at? Sending his demon spawn to attack us like that? What did we do?"

"What _didn't_ we do is a better question." Berserk muttered. "Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky this time around and they _are_ locked away for this transformation-"

A long, drawn out howl in the distance cut across their conversation, causing the woman to stiffen as more howls joined in.

"You were saying?" Brat whispered fearfully as she eyed the tent walls.

Berserk paused as she listened to the otherworldly cries. She was silent for a long moment before she stood soundlessly.

"Brute, you might want to say a few prayers for the hunters in the woods…"

"They're going to need them."

* * *

 **Townsville Forest**

"Where is it?"

One of the younger hunters off to Mitch's left whispered fearfully as he clutched his gun close to him.

"Where the hell is it?!" He repeated; his voice high and frantic.

"Shut up!" Mitch whispered harshly, his eyes scanning the foggy area. "I won't be able to pin point it if I can't hear where it's coming from!"

The younger hunter fell silent, letting muffled whimpers escape him. The rest of the hunters weren't in any better condition – their eyes darted around the fog filled area worriedly – trying to spot an enemy they couldn't see.

Mitch shifted slightly, firearm still raised as he scoured the area. He couldn't see anything in the surrounding fog, and it worried him. He still had no idea what these things looked like. Maybe-

" _ **RRRRRGGHHHHHRRRR..."**_

A furious snarl cut across his thoughts, causing the other hunters to point their firearms in the direction of the sound.

There. Directly ahead of them, emerging slowly from the fog; was a pair of insidious red eyes.

The men fell silent as the thing crept forward from the gloom – its massive paws sinking into the white snow beneath it with light crunching sounds, making a slight chill run up Mitch's spine as the creature locked eyes with him.

He still couldn't see it clearly, as the fog was still covering the majority of the beasts frame, but he could tell from where he was kneeling that it was massive – even on all fours.

Every instinct that he had was screaming at him that the creature before him was unnatural – that he had to kill it and quickly – yet for the first time in his life, Mitch froze; unable to move as he stared directly into the beast's wrathful eyes as if he was hypnotised.

The entity paused a few yards ahead of the hunters, glowering at them as a deep rumbling sound echoed from its throat. The hunters were frozen just like Mitch as they began to whisper fearfully.

" _Oh god. That's it. That's the thing. It has to be."_

" _Mother of Mary, what_ is _it?!"_

" _Some sort of dog? A bear…?"_

" _No, its face is more like a canine, not a bear."_

" _Still, what is it?! Mitch, what is this thing?""_

"I don't know." Mitch whispered as he flicked the safety off on his shotgun. "I have no idea."

"It's a bloody demon. I knew it." The older hunter beside him breathed quietly so the only he could hear him. "I fucking knew it."

Mitch honestly couldn't blame him for thinking that. The creature in front of them looked like a demon – its narrowed, silted eyes boring into them hungrily.

It let out a warning growl as its powerful muscles tensed. Mitch immediately noticed the change and squeezed down on the trigger.

"Get down-!"

The creature came sprinting toward the church, letting out a blood curdling roar as it charged toward them.

Shots began to sound on either side of Mitch as he let off a few rounds of his own. His own shell managed to graze one of its broad shoulders – tearing off some of its dark red fur as it ricocheted off into the gloomy distance – but the beast barely flinched, not bothering to slow down its pace.

"Holy shit." Mitch breathed as he reached inside his ammo bag for another round, "Armor piercing rounds don't do anything to it." He clicked a bullet into place and pumped the shotgun, as he stared down the beast.

It was almost on them now, quickly closing the gap that separated it from the rotting church and the hunters.

Three feet, two feet, one…

Mitch closed one of his eyes and waited for it to get as close as it could to the group that was firing at it before he took his second shot.

The beast seemed to sense this. Avoiding all of the other hunter's shots; it leapt onto its powerful back legs, launching its muscular body into the air with its claws outstretched; heading directly towards the terrified group of men.

Mitch took a quick breath and aimed his gun towards the middle of the red eyed demons chest, intent on blowing a hole clear though it…

Only to have it land before the crumbling church steps and get swallowed up by the earth.

An enraged roar followed the creature down as it fell into the crevice, accompanied by a heavy _thud._ The hunters lowered their firearms in shock as they stared at the black pit where the beast had fallen. Slowly they began to inch their way toward it.

"Careful." Mitch advised as he slowly advanced toward the new crevice. "It's trapped down there in the catacombs, everybody watch your step. I'd hate for any of you to end up down there with it."

"What the hell…" One of the hunters breathed as he moved closer to the pit. "What the hell is that thing?"

"I don't know!" Another one spoke up. "I've never seen anything like it before! It's not a bear, it moves too fast; the face is all wrong too – did anyone see the paws on that thing? They almost looked like hands…"

"Looks more like a massive dog to me." Another added.

"Naw mate, not a dog. Wolf is more like it."

"Oh, this thing isn't a wolf." Mitch muttered as he gripped his shotgun tighter, not lowering his guard. "I've seen wolfs, this is not a wolf. Not a normal one anyways."

He hadn't gotten a clear look at it as it moved far too fast to make out any distinct features, however; he now knew that it wasn't a normal animal they were dealing with, and it certainly wasn't a wolf.

After all; what wolf was the same size and mass of a bear, with paws that looked eerily similar to human hands?

None. Not any that he knew of anyways.

"Whatever it is, let's kill it and be done with it." A rough looking hunter snarled. "God forbid there's more of these things, I'd rather not stick around to find out."

Mitch slowly advanced toward the hole; the beast hadn't attempted to climb back out – maybe it was trapped down there. It was a foolish thought and he knew it, but it was a hopeful one.

Mitch looked down at his shotgun. The rumors were true: buckshot couldn't kill whatever this thing was. Hell, it didn't even slow it down.

 _Silver is a man's best friend, not gold._

Berserk's hint echoed in his mind. Subconsciencly, he popped the current round out of the chamber of his gun and placed in back into his ammo bag. He felt around the collection of bullets for a moment until he found what he was looking for.

Slowly withdrawing his hand from the bag, he held his palm out flat as he looked down wearily at the casing he held.

It was one of his silver bullets.

 _Normal rounds don't do anything to it… This might though._

Mitch thought darkly as he clicked the bullet into place before moving forward again. After seeing the thing in all of its terrifying glory, he was willing to try anything.

He moved closer and closer to the foreboding crevice. Aside from some slight shuffling noises, it was absolutely still. The beast had made no attempt to escape its dark confines.

"Aaaaaaggghhh!"

The surprised screech came from behind him on his left. Mitch turned around just in time to see one of the younger hunters fall though a concealed crevice with a loud _thud._

A bloodthirsty snarl echoed from down below his feet; followed by the sounds of fast, heavy movement, heading straight towards where the hunter had just fallen.

"ALEX! ALEX NO! GET OUT OF THERE!" A hunter screamed in panic as he loaded his gun and began to fire several rounds into the dark hole in the earth, hoping to detour the beast from the now prone hunter.

Mitch darted over to the new crevice, just in time to see the hunter – Alex – scream bloody murder as the beast rushed him, slamming him against one of the catacomb's walls and impaling him into a sharp rock that jutted out of the wall.

Mitch saw the spray of blood spurt out of the young man's mouth and knew instantly that he was a goner.

"SHIT, NO!" The same hunter screamed in panic as he bent down at the edge of the hole to get a better view to fire at the demonic creature. The towering beast rose up on unsteady hind legs to glare at the offending hunter. Its red eyes narrowing into slits as it found its next victim.

"NO!" Mitch yelled as he sprinted over to the crouching hunter. "NO DON'T! IT'LL PULL YOU-"

He was cut off as a massive, clawed hand reached up suddenly and yanked the hunter into the darkness as well. His petrified screams followed him down, only to be cut off by a wet gurgle a few seconds later. Mitch didn't need to see the hunter to know that his throat was most likely slashed.

Mitch stopped dead in front of the crevice, fighting back bile in his throat as he stared at the nightmarish scene below him.

Dark red blood was splayed across the stone walls of the church catacombs, dripping ominously from the bodies of the mangled hunters – one impaled on the rocky wall, and the other slumped dead on the floor beside him. The beast was breathing heavily as it gazed at its victims, its coarse red fur stained with patches of blood.

It looked up suddenly to see the other hunters peering at it from above, too stunned to fire at it. Mitch made eye contact with the creature's crimson gaze again and held it as he took in a look at the thing under his feet.

Its massive ears flicked forward to him as the beast turned slightly on its hind legs to glare hatefully at him. A primal roar resonated from its vocal cords as it stared back defiantly at the brown haired man.

Mitch's own eyes hardened and he raised his gun – silver bullet in the chamber – ready to sink the bullet into this… abnormality's head where it belonged.

Before he could squeeze the trigger; the beast lunged, easily clearing the crevice it had fallen into and hulling itself up onto the snowy bank where Mitch and the remaining hunters were, forcing them back toward the old church with panicked yells.

The beast stood in front of the crevice on all fours, panting slightly; it's massive frame illuminated by the light of the full moon. Its red eyes were fixed on the cowering hunters as it shook itself lightly, sending blood droplets onto the white snow below. A deep growl rumbled in its throat at it began to advance toward them slowly.

"Shit." Mitch muttered as he raised his gun again.

He wasn't afraid to admit that he had no idea what this thing was. All he knew is that he had to kill it before it got any closer to them. He couldn't afford to lose any more of the hunters; he had a new job now: keep the remainder of them alive to see the sunrise.

Before he could take the shot, the beast paused for a moment, eyeing them sinisterly. Pushing off the blood splattered snow with its powerful arms; it reared back on its hind legs – causing the hunters to gawk in terrified fascination – as it threw its massive head back to howl at the night sky, holding a long, drawn out note that made Mitch's blood turn to ice.

The air was still for a moment, before a second howl pierced the frigid air, answering the first.

" **AWWWRRRRRRRRWWWWWWWRRRRROOOOOOOOO."**

The hunters spun on their heels, trying to pin point where the sound was coming from. This howl was different from the first, it was deeper, more primal, more angry then the howls of the creature – no, _monster_ in front of them.

" **AAAARRRROOOOOOOOWWWWWWWOOOOOO."**

Mitch felt his heart stop as a third howl joined in to answer the two before it. This one, though lighter than the last, still held a sinister edge to it as it echoed around the forested area.

"Fucking told you there's more of 'em." The old bearded hunter muttered somewhere behind him as he spat on the ground, muttering curses. "You were right boy: we really _are_ the bait."

"Those two sound father away." Mitch muttered back, not taking his eyes off of the blood stained creature in front of the group. "If we can kill this one before the other two get here, we'll have a better chance."

"Provided we can actually hit the bloody thing then sure, we _might_ have a better chance."

Mitch didn't answer as he looked directly at the monster before them, who had resumed moving closer to them. It raked its wicked looking claws down the bark of nearby trees as it approached, sharping them farther and leaving deep gouges in the dead trees.

Mitch cocked his shotgun, closing one of his eyes to improve his accuracy. This was the best shot he was going to have at the monster, he couldn't afford to miss.

If he did… he could only hope that his death would be relatively painless.

At this point the other hunters had taken notice that the first beast was approaching them and had trained their guns back on it, shivering violently as they did so.

The monster paused for half a second as its unnatural red eyes locked onto Mitch again. He watched in disbelief as the creatures wolfish lips lifted, revealing sharp, white fangs the size of steak knives.

Its lip pulled up slightly and for a horrible moment, the monster seemed to be grinning at them, never taking its eyes off of them.

Then it charged.

The remaining hunters rose into a frenzied panic and began firing at the beast in front of them with everything that they had, lighting up the darkness with the flashes from the muzzles of their guns.

Once again, the creature managed to avoid most of the shots using its surprising speed, and with a powerful lunge that lunched the massive beast into the air, it was on them.

Mitch threw himself out of the way to avoid getting his head ripped off by the lunging animal; unfortunately the hunter who had been standing behind him wasn't so lucky.

He looked back just in time to see the monster land on top of the withering hunter and sink its powerful canines into his neck, ending his life with a choked scream of agony.

The other hunters who had managed to get out of the way in time, scattered backwards with yells of unchecked panic as they desperately began to reload their guns. Some looking close to tears as the howls from before started up again, this time closer to the group.

Mitch raised his arms, getting ready to fire at the monster, which was just finishing tearing out its newest victim's throat before he looked down at his hands and his face went white.

His shotgun was gone.

Mitch began to sweat as his head swivelled from side to side, looking for his prized firearm. He must have dropped it when he had flung himself out of the way. Question was: where was it currently?

"Oh fucking hell, where is it?!" Mitch hissed as he frantically searched the surrounding area on his hands and knees, brushing away the snow in a desperate attempt to find his misplaced gun. Meanwhile, the monster had shifted its attention towards the other hunters who were still in a panic – gaping at the creature that had killed three of their comrades in a span of ten minutes.

The men began to back up as the monster advanced on them once again, it's large ears flicked and swivelled on top of its massive head, picking up the distressed sounds its pray was making.

Mitch glanced at the scene behind him out of the corner of his eye and muffled an irritated groan.

 _Screw it._ He thought bitterly. Rising to his feet, he reached around and pulled the hunting rifle off of his back. He held it in his hands and muttered a quick prayer as he ran back toward the red furred beast.

His hunting rifle wasn't as powerful as the shot gun, but it had a scope and had better aim. Right now, all he needed was something that could shoot and do some actual damage to the colossal beast that had killed some of his hunters.

Reaching into his ammo bag, he found one of his few silver bullets. Popping it into the chamber, Mitch stared down the scope, pointed at the beasts broad, muscular back.

"HEY YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He bellowed, making the beast whip around to answer him with an earth-shaking roar of its own. Mitch grinned as he trained the scope right at the monsters head.

"Eat this you motherfuc-"

"OH GOD! OH GOD NO! NOOOO!"

" _ **ROOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHAAAAA!"**_

The primal roar forced Mitch to look in the direction of where the new chorus of screams was coming from.

Only for his heart to skip a few beats.

Off to his left, he witnessed a hulking black mass with malovent green eyes and wicked long claws; clamp down onto the leg of another hunter, before dragging him off into the dead undergrowth – the man's screams following him before they too were cut off abruptly.

It was here. Another one of those things was here. It had come to join the party of death.

Mitch froze suddenly as another thought struck him.

 _I heard two different howls. There's two here right now. So where's the third-"_

 _Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump, CLANK, CLANK, CLANK, CLANK._

Mitch barely had anytime to duck as the third beast flung itself at the spot where he had been mare moments ago, slashing at the air with nightmarish looking claws; and setting off some of the bear traps in the process.

The third beast crashed into a small sapling, snapping it in half from the force of the landing, before whipping around on its hind legs to face him; barring its deadly canines at him, lips drawn back in a snarl.

This one wasn't as big as the black one, Mitch noticed as he took a second to examine the newest beast. It was still lean and muscular and was roughly the same height as the red beast – probably over seven feet at least – only this one's fur was more of a silver hue compared to the darker tones of its companions.

And it had the strangest pair of blue eyes that he had ever seen on an animal… they were almost… human, in a way…

Mitch didn't stop to think about it. Raising his rifle, he fired the silver bullet that was loaded in the chamber and watched as it sailed towards the silver beast.

The creature quickly side stepped out of the path of the on-coming bullet, but wasn't fast enough. Mitch watched in satisfaction as the bullet managed to sink into the thigh of the blue eyed monster, causing it to stagger back a few feet and its hypnotising blue eyes to widen impossibly.

Then it screamed.

Mitch let out a surprised yell of his own as he slammed his hands over his ears to muffle the horrible sound. The crimson eyed beast paused its assault on the hunters, turning to stare at its companion. Mitch winced as the screams from the beast intensified, not bothering to look around to see if the remaining hunters were doing the same.

It sounded like nothing he had ever heard before. It was a sound that he didn't think that animals were capable of making.

The screams sounded disturbing human.

Mitch watched in terrified fascination as the creature clawed at the open wound on it's thigh with its human-like hands, desperately trying to dig the silver out of its leg.

After a moment that felt like hours the silver furred beast moved its blood covered claws away from its leg, firmly holding the silver bullet it one of its massive paws, before hurtling the cartilage away into the woods as if it had been burned, as it looked up at him; furious.

Mitch had already begun to reload his rifle at the sight. _No way. There was no way._ He thought to himself in a panic. He had had a feeling that the creatures were intelligent, but he never had expected it to be able to dig bullets out of itself!

Mitch popped another silver bullet in the chamber, just as the silver beast let out a deafening roar and sprinted toward him – now with a noticeable limp.

As it drew nearer, Mitch hesitated as he focused on the wound that he had caused on the monsters thigh – which was gushing dark blood, leaving shiny streaks down its leg, staining the white snow below a dark red.

The wound the silver bullet had caused was odd looking. Instead of looking like a normal shot wound, the area around it looked inflamed – almost as if the creature had been _burned._ The paw that had touched the silver looked the same as its leg: _burned._

"What the fuck is going on here?" Mitch whispered as he squeezed down on the trigger, scope directed at the charging monster's head.

"MITCH LOOK OUT! THE OTHER ONE'S BACK! HE'S COMING RIGHT AT YOU!"

"Oh fucking he-"

Mitch flung himself forward just as the colossal black beast from earlier came crashing out of the dead undergrowth to the aid of its slightly smaller companion. A ring of teeth closing around the air where his head had been moments before.

He quickly regained his footing as he turned in the direction of the hunter that called out to him, recognizing the older hunter immediately. He sent the withered man a nod.

"Thanks mate!" he called out.

The older hunter opened his mouth to say something back, before his body stiffened as talons the size of steak knives sliced though his abdomen, casing a torrent of red to fall down his front like a waterfall. The withered man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body fell limp; causing him to pitch forward as if he were a rag doll.

"Shit no, NO!" Mitch yelled as he watched the talons retract themselves from inside the man's body. The red beast pulled its clawed hand back – now soaked with blood – out of the limp body as it fell, stepping over it as if it were nothing more than a fallen log.

"You motherfucking wolf." Mitch seethed as he glared at all three of the beasts who were advancing on him slowly.

"I have no idea what the fuck the three of you are; but I'm going to put a bullet in each of your skulls. Help or no help."

He glanced at the few hunters who were left out of his peripherals. They had started to run in the opposite direction towards town upon noticing that the beast's attentions were focused on Mitch.

He breathed a small sigh. While it was very unlikely that he would last against the three abnormalities on his own, if the other hunters made it back to town they could send in reinforcements to help them.

God only knew how much reinforcements were needed at that moment, seeing how the creatures in front of him had effortlessly killed off at least six or seven of the twelve or so hunters he had brought with him.

To his horror, the crimson eyed beast – the alpha, he imagined – turned its wolfish head in the direction of the feeling hunters. Mitch felt his heart drop as a sick grin seemed to work its way up its muzzle.

It let out a curt bark, making the black and silver beasts glance in direction of the hunters. The black wolf let out a bellow – Its haunting green eyes almost black – as it sunk onto all fours and bolted after the fleeing men.

"NO! Mitch yelled as he took a step forward. "Leve them alone! It's me you want!"

He moved forward another step, only to find his path blocked by the snarling silver furred beast, forcing him back to avoid the snapping jaws that wanted nothing more then to separate his skin from his bones.

A growl from the alpha of the group forced the blue eyed creature to stop. The silver wolf let out a whine of protest as it stood up on its hind legs to face the red eyed one.

The red furred wolf let out a warning roar at its companion, causing the silver one to flatten its ear and growl, before taking off after the massive black one; which was almost upon the fleeing group – a slight limp in its powerful strides.

With a huff, the red beast turned slowly back towards Mitch, its grin from earlier back in place. Mitch hissed as he glared up at the towering beast.

"So this is it huh? You sent them away after the other hunters so you could have me all to yourself? You're a smart bastard; I'll give you that one."

The grin seemed to stretch wider, allowing Mitch a clear view of the pearly white fangs that resided within. Mitch shuddered. This thing was smart. It was almost like it understood what he was saying…

He raised his hunting rifle slowly. "I'm glad you sent them away. I'm going to put some big goddamn holes in you, just like I did your buddy. Then, I'm going after them."

The grin slipped off of the beasts face at the statement and its large ears fell flat against its head. It unsheathed its massive claws; the wicked appendages glittering sinisterly from the older hunters still fresh blood. The sight made Mitch's own blood boil.

"I'm sick and tired of you motherfucking wolfs, messing up my hometown and killing without restrictions. It's time someone taught you a lesson. And that person is going to be me."

He glared at the beast as he cocked the rifle. "I'm going to decorate my living room with you and your friend's heads, and make my fiancé a coat from your fur."

A guttural growl emanated from the beast's throat as it flexed its claws and leaned toward him, awaiting his next move.

It was silent between them for a few moments as both tried to anticipating the other's move – the sounds of the screaming hunters and howls of the pursuing wolfs turning into white noise in the background – as the primal beast and the hunter stared each other down. The full moon shone brightly in the inky black sky above, eliminating the forested area surrounding the two powerhouses.

There was a slight pause. Then the beast darted forward with a nightmarish roar.

The attack was so fast that Mitch didn't have time to fire before the beast was on him.

The wolf slammed into him, knocking the wind out of him with a painful grunt and forcing him down onto his back. Mitch thrust the hunting rifle between him and the enraged beast above him, using it as a bar to keep the sharp canines above him from tearing into his exposed face.

"Nragh! DAMN IT!" Mitch screeched as he locked his arms in place, keeping the hunting rifle pressed into the beast's neck as it snapped its jaws furiously above him; its bloody claws tearing up the earth on either side of his body.

The two continued to struggle on the ground for several tense moments, both roaring and screaming at the other. Finally, Mitch managed to get his foot in-between him and the beast, kneeing the creature in the stomach and forcing it back slightly.

Knowing that he wouldn't have time to shoot beast before it was on him again, Mitch reached down towards his hunting belt and whipped out one of his hunting knifes just as the wolf bore down onto him again, its fangs heading straight for his neck.

Letting out an enraged scream, Mitch stabbed down into the wolfs right shoulder, taking grim satisfaction upon hearing the pained howl rip out of its throat as the knife sunk into it.

The wolf yelped in pain as it tried to dislodge the knife out of its broad shoulder. Rearing up onto its powerful back legs, it claws slashed down Mitch's face in retaliation.

Mitch let out a scream of agony as he felt the sharp talons rake down the left side of his face. Squeezing his eyes shut to avoid having his eye taken out, he felt the beast's claws shred the skin to ribbons, as a river of blood welled out of the deep gashes.

The wolf roared with pain above him as it grasped the handle of the hunting knife and ripped it out of its shoulder, reopening an older shotgun wound on the same shoulder as it did so. Blood spurted out of the wounds as the beast let the knife drop to the snow covered earth. Turning its furious red eyes on the hunter below him – who was writhing in pain and clutching his face in an attempt to stop the bleeding – it let out a blood curdling scream as it picked Mitch up by the front of his cloak, and smashed his head against the ground.

Mitch let out a gasp of pain as he felt his head smack hollowly against the frozen earth. The sides of his vison began to blacken as he struggled to stay conscience. The wolf panted deeply as it sat back on its hunches for a moment, trying to regain feeling in its arm as it watched him, waiting for him to get up.

When Mitch didn't move, the wolf huffed as it threw its head back and let out an ear-shattering howl. Then, it bounded off into the trees after its companions and after the feeling hunters, leaving Mitch half unconscious in a snow bank.

"N-No…" Mitch groaned as he struggled to get up. His vison was almost completely black as he tried to regain his footing. "G-Get back here you stupid mut-"

Finally his body gave out and he fell back into the snow, his eyes closing as his head lolled back, face still bleeding profusely.

 _God help us._

Mitch though, before he lost conscience and let the darkness swallow him whole.

* * *

 **Bellum manor**

"There it is again."

Buttercup stopped her pacing as she paused to listen to the disturbing screams off in the distance.

"Do you hear that?" She asked Blossom and Bubbles.

The three girls were in the manors living room in their nightgowns, listening to the noises that were emanating from the forest – their father having long since locked himself in his bedroom with their mother as soon as the howls had started.

"I do, but I'd rather not." Bubbles admitted as she hugged one of the sofa's plush pillows to her chest.

Buttercup turned her head towards Blossom expectantly. Blossom shrugged helplessly. "I do. But I'm quite content staying inside – far, far away from whatever is making those sounds."

Buttercup let out a frustrated growl.

"Well, _I_ want to see what traumatized dad so badly." She snapped, standing up abruptly before striding out of the living room.

Blossom and Bubbles glanced at each other, confused before their eyes widened as Buttercup's words sank in, causing them to leap to their feet and run after her.

"Are you insane?!" Blossom screeched as she skidded to a halt in front of her lime eyed sister. "You can't go out there alone – you can't go out at all! Papa blocked off the front door!" She waved frantically to the blocked double doors, hoping to detour her stubborn sibling.

Buttercup only chuckled at her worries, as she hastily put on a pair of shoes and a cloak, before making her way towards the back of the house where the garden was. "You ever heard of windows Bloss? God knows we have plenty of them." she gestured to the casement windows. "I just want to see what has him so scared…"

"I don't think you do!" Blossom cried as she latched on to Buttercup's arm in an attempt to slow her down. "Buttercup, whatever this thing is, it's not to be messed with!"

"Just a quick look." Buttercup argued as she shrugged her off her arm. "I doubt I'll see anything anyways. I'll stick by the woods at the back of the house, that way I can come back quickly if I need to. No one needs to know."

"Buttercup, please don't do this." Bubbles groaned as she watched her onyx haired sister unlock one of the windows, pushing it open slightly. "You'll get in so much trouble if mama or papa finds out… I'm worried…"

"If you're that worried about me then come." Buttercup grinned as she hoisted herself up onto the window ledge; one half of her body outside in the night; the freezing air making her long, dark hair billow out in the breeze, catching the moonlight.

"Besides – They won't know unless you tell them." She winked as she bent down to offer a hand to her sisters. "Are you coming or what?"

Blossom and Bubbles stood stoically for a few tense moments. Finally Bubbles cracked, leaving the room for a moment, only to return with a pair of shoes and her own cloak. Blossom's eyes widened as she watched her youngest sister bend down to slip on her shoes.

"Bubbles!" She gasped. Bubbles shrugged as she threw the cloak on her shoulders.

"You know Buttercup won't back down. If we go with her, we can make sure she doesn't do anything reckless." Bubbles reasoned. She looked up at Buttercup, who was still perched on the window still – hand held out expectantly.

"Just a quick look. If we don't see anything in a few minutes, we go back inside. Understood?"

Buttercup rolled her eyes as she hoisted her blonde sister up onto the window still beside her. "You sound like Blossom, but fine. For your peace of mind."

She helped Bubbles carefully maneuver herself down from the window ledge and onto the snow covered grass of the garden below. Once she was sure Bubbles had solid footing, she turned back inside to look at Blossom.

"Well Leader Girl? It's now or never. Are you coming with us or not?"

Blossom growled under her breath as she glared up at her still smirking sister. Another moment of silence passed before Blossom turned and left the room, returning moments later with her shoes and her cloak – a bright red, ground-length cape with a hood.

"If we get caught – I ran after you two to make sure you were safe." She hissed as she grabbed onto Buttercup's outstretched hand. Buttercup grinned triumphantly.

"Trust me Bloss, we'll be back before anyone notices we're gone."

* * *

 _Moon._

 _So bright… so full._

 _Brothers._

 _Where are my… ah there._

 _Good._

 _We hunt as a pack._

 _Always._

 _Always._

 _Hunters will die tonight._

 _I'll have their blood by night's end._

 _I want…_

 _I want their_ _ **BLOOD.**_

 _ **I WANT THEM DEAD-**_

 _Sniff, sniff._

 _Wait. What is that?_

 _Something is different._

 _New scents… I smell them…_

 _Oh._

 _OH._

 _Must alert brothers._

 _This will be fun._

" **AWWWWRRRROOOOOOO"**

* * *

 **Townsville Forest**

"I don't like this."

"You don't like anything exciting."

"I'm serious Buttercup. This is dangerous, I can barely see two feet in front of me and there's a man-eating beast on the loose. We should go back."

"Blossom, live a little."

"I'd like to live to see tomorrow thank you very much."

"And you will. Besides, who said that this thing is out tonight anyways?"

"What's been making those awful screams from in here then?"

"… Fair point."

"Girls please." Bubbles hissed as she shuffled closer to Buttercup, her bright blue eyes darting about nervously. "I'm already scared enough as it is. Let's wrap this up quickly and go back. Something doesn't feel right about the woods."

"Now that you mention it, they do feel off." Buttercup admitted, glancing around. "I don't want to make the two of you panic, but do you feel like we're being watch-"

" _ **AAWWWWWWRRRRRROOOOOO!"**_

" _OH GOD IT GOT TIM!"_

" _RUN, JUST KEEP RUNING! DON'T LOOK BACK!"_

" _THERE'S THREE OF THEM._ _ **THREE!**_ _"_

" _JUST KEEP RUNNING; WE'RE ALMOST AT THE TOWN!"_

" _WHERE'S MIT- AGGRRRRHHH!"_

" _FUCK, COLLIN!"_

" _MARK, WHAT DO WE-"_

" _DON'T STOP BOY, KEEP RUNNING DON'T YOU DARE LOOK BEHIND YOU, DON'T YOU-!"_

" _AHHHHHHHH!"_

" _GODDMAN IT, THIS IS A NIGHTMARE, IT HAS TO BE!"_

" _WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?"_

" _ **DEAD! THEY GOT THEM!**_ _"_

" _ **RRROOOOOOAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRRR!"**_

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup froze as the screams of the men echoed all around them. Bubbles let out a frightened sob and buried her face into Blossom's arm, while she and Buttercup looked around frantically, trying to determine where the screams were emanating from.

"What the hell?" Buttercup breathed lowly as she drew here sisters closer to her. "I don't like the sound of that." Blossom whispered as she slowly began to back up, still holding on to Bubbles.

"Neither do I. What is making that sound? Wolfs?" Buttercup muttered as she listened to the screams of the men fade in the distance.

Blossom shook her head. "Can't be. Papa said they don't come this close to town."

"Whatever it is, let's not stick around to find out! We need to leave… NOW." Bubbles stated with a slight hiccup as she detached herself from Blossom. "Which way did we come from?"

"Ahhh…" Buttercup quickly turned in a circle, her piercing green eyes searching for the way back frantically, before she slowly lifted her head to stare at her sisters.

"Where are the tracks?"

* * *

 _Blood._

 _Hunters._

 _ **Dead.**_

 _ **Dead, all dead.**_

 _Not enough._

 _Want more blood._

 _ **I WANT TO KILL-**_

 _Sniff, sniff._

 _What is that?_

 _Scent._

 _This scent._

 _Sniff, sniff._

 _I know this sent._

 _It belongs to…_ _ **HER.**_

 _ **HER.**_

 _My female…_

 _My,_

 _My…_

 _ **MINE.**_

 _ **SHES MINE!**_

 _ **ALL MINE!**_

" _ **ARRRRROOOOOOOWWWWRRRROOOOOOO!"**_

* * *

Blossom felt her blood turn to ice at Buttercup's words. Slowly she looked up to meet her sister's worried gaze, only to see that she was deathly serious.

The chestnut haired woman took a deep breath. "What do you mean 'where are the tracks?'" she asked calmly.

Buttercup shrugged helplessly. "My plan was to follow the tracks we made back to the manor, but I don't see them anymore, and I can't tell which way we came from. Everything looks the same."

"You mean to tell me we're _lost?_ " Blossom asked, her voice rising higher and higher as panic began to set in.

"Blossom calm down!" Buttercup hissed as she slapped a hand over her older sister's mouth. "I don't know what was chasing those men, but it didn't sound pleasant, and I don't want to find out what it is. It could still be nearby for all we know!"

"Oh god Buttercup, this is all your fault." Bubbles moaned as she began to search for their tracks in the snow. "I swear, if whatever is out here doesn't kill us first then I will!"

"Kill me when we get back to the manor, right now we have bigger things to worry about!" Buttercup snapped back as she began to circle the area. "I'm almost tempted to follow after those men – they seemed to know the way back to town, but whatever was chasing after them is that way, and we don't have weapons."

Bubbles stopped her search for a moment as she slowly pivoted to face her older sisters with a horrified look on her face.

"Didn't papa mention that Mitch and a group of hunters were going to be out in the woods tonight trying to trap whatever this thing is?"

Blossom and Buttercup stopped dead in their tracks as Bubbles's words slowly sunk in. "Oh god." Buttercup muttered to herself. "Please tell me you're not saying what I think you're implying"

"I think she is." Blossom whispered. "I think those were the hunters. Or, what was left of them anyways."

"Then where's Mitch-"

 _Snap_

The sound of a branch snapping close to them silenced them immediately. A low growl rumbled quietly though the frosty air making the hairs on the back of Blossom's neck stand up.

"What was that…?" She whispered. Bubbles began to shake like a leaf as she moved towards her. "I-it came from over there." She mumbled; pointing towards a large patch of snow covered bushes.

To their horror, Buttercup crept towards the sound.

"Buttercup!" Blossom hissed, "Buttercup get back over here now!" she pointed to the spot beside her as she forced Bubbles away from the dead shrubbery.

Buttercup ignored her sisters frantic hissing as she moved closer to the dark hedges. She stopped a few feet away from them and stared into them intently. She was silent for a few tense moments before she frowned and squinted at something in them.

A pair of dark green eyes glittered at her from inside the darkness of the bushes.

"What is that?-"

" **ARRRRROOOOOOOOOORRRRRWWWWW!"**

The howling was back, and this time it was even closer to them.

It sounded like it was coming straight towards them.

"Oh my god." Bubbles whispered. "We're going to die. We're going to die out here and no one is going to know about it."

"No, we're not!" Blossom stated firmly, "We'll make it back, don't worry, we'll make it-"

"OH GOD! BLOSSOM, BUBBLES _**RUN!**_ "

Both girls quickly turned toward the horrified scream of their middle sister, just in time to witness a massive clawed paw step out of the bushes and into the light that the moonlight provided, followed by deep, throaty rumbling.

Bubbles screamed as the rest of the creature emerged from the snow covered shrubs and Blossom almost fainted dead away.

It was a colossal beast – towering over them at what had to be eight feet or more, and was covered from head to toe in thick, jet black fur. Its barrel chest and arms rippled with powerful muscle with every move it made. Its head was similar to a wolf's and its lips were drawn back into a snarl as its pointed ears twitched as its deep green eyes locked onto Buttercup's prone form.

"Blossom… Blossom what is that thing? Is it a bear?" Bubbles whispered – eyes locked onto the creature – as she tugged her sister backwards.

"No." Blossom breathed. "No that's not a bear. Bears don't have faces like that."

Buttercup felt her heart stop as the creature in front of her fixed her with its forest green irises, captivating her and making her freeze in place. It moved towards her on its powerful hind legs –one of its massive paws reaching out for her – that's when she broke out of her trance.

She moved back quickly, out of its reach, casing the beast to flatten its ears and growl warningly. Buttercup stared up at it unblinkingly, before she spun around on her heel and took off into the woods.

"BUTTERCUP WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Blossom screamed just as the beast let out a deafening roar and slowly began to pursue her, slinking down onto all fours and following her into the darkness of the forest.

"I'll lead it away! You and Bubbles get back to the manor, get help!" Buttercup's faint reply called back as another roar emanated from the following creature.

"Blossom, what are we going to do!? We can't leave her out here! she'll die!" Bubbles wailed. "That thing is going to kill her! If it doesn't then the cold will!"

"I know, I know!" Blossom panicked, "We have to go after her, or no – wait, I'll go after her and you go back to the manor an-"

" **Rrrrrrrgggghhhhrrrr."**

A loud snarl came from behind the two girls. Spinning around, they came face to face with a pair of silted ocean blue eyes peering at them from the darkness of the forest. The beast slowly moved forward until it was visible to them, the moonlight gleaming off of its silver fur proudly.

"Blossom-" Bubbles whispered suddenly.

"I know. There are two of them apparently." Blossom swallowed thickly. "That's why the hunters were running away. There are two…"

"No Blossom, it's bleeding." Bubbles pointed out, shakily pointing at it's thigh, where Blossom could see drying blood trails dripping out of a decently sized hole in its leg.

"Something shot it… the hunter's maybe?" Bubbles asked as she eyed the powerful creature wearily.

"I don't think it matters anymore Bubbles. I doubt we would be able to out-run this thing anyways." Blossom choked out as her mind began to race. She was going to die out here. She and her sisters were going to die at the claws of these strange beasts and she couldn't save them.

Blossom felt tears spring into her eyes. For all she knew Buttercup was dead and she would be next. It would take some kind of miracle to save them now. She sniffed harshly and snapped her head up to face the second beast, squeezing Bubbles's hand tightly in her own.

"Bubbles, I want you to run." Blossom muttered quietly. "What?!" Bubbles asked in disbelieve. "I want you to run as fast as you can and get help. I'm going to hold this thing off for as long as I can." Blossom elaborated.

"That's crazy, you'll die!" Bubbles argued, "I'm staying with you!"

"No you're not." Blossom growled, turning away from the oncoming beast to face her youngest sister. "As the oldest, it's my responsibility to look after you and Buttercup. I haven't done a very good job of that lately, and I'm so, so sorry that I haven't been there for you like I should have. That's why I need at least one of you to make it back."

"Bloss…" Bubbles's voice cracked and Blossom felt her own heart break as she saw crystal tears begin to run down her blonde sister's face. At that moment, the moonlight eliminated the small clearing the girls were standing in, bleaching them in its pale light and casting long shadows around them.

Blossom pulled her blue eyed sister in for a quick hug then roughly pushed her away. "Run." She said coldly before turning to face the beast again – hearing the crunch of snow off to her right, letting her know that Bubbles had taken off.

To her horror though, she saw the wolf like creature staring after her blonde sister. It let out a sound between a growl and a whine before dropping onto all fours and starting to follow after her.

"HEY!" Blossom yelled, startling it and herself. The creature turned its wolfish head towards her and let out a snarl, exposing its wicked looking canines as its deep blue eyes narrowed at her.

"You leave her alone you brute!" Blossom shrieked; her voice tight with fury. "I'm right here!"

The blue eyed monster let out a furious roar and blossom closed her eyes against the moonlight, waiting for the death blow that would surly end her life – only to have the moonlight disappear suddenly as a shadow fell across her.

A low growl emanated from up above her. Blossom's eyes flashed open to see the silver furred beast backing away from her slowly with a pitiful whine – its eyes not focused on her, but something behind her.

Shakily, Blossom slowly turned around to see what had the creature backing away from her, only to have her heart drop into her stomach as she looked up.

Towering above her, blocking out the moonlight was the final beast. Its demonic red eyes gleamed in the pale light as it snarled angrily at the blue eyed wolf. It let out a deep bark as the other wolf let out a small whine as it backed away from her on all fours.

It let out a small huff as it glared at the other beast and her, before turning its head in the direction where Bubbles had run off to. Its lips pulled up into what Blossom could only describe as a smirk, before it bolted off after her at an unnatural speed.

"NO!" Blossom wailed as she watched the mass of the wolf vanish into the forest after her sister. She took a step forward to run after it before a threatening growl from behind made her pause and her blood turn to ice.

Pulling he bright red cloak tighter around herself, she slowly turned again to face the beast with the blood coloured eyes.

It towered over her, casting an intimidating shadow that all but blanketed her. Its large pointed ears swivelled in her direction as its glowing red eyes drank in her nightgown clad frame.

The beast slowly lowered itself on to its front paws – as if not to scare her – moving forward as she slowly backed away from the imposing creature. Blossom's mind reeled at the sight of the wolf as she desperately wracked her brain, trying to figure out what exactly it could be.

Her father had called it a hybrid, but show could tell that it was something far more sinister then that. What exactly the creature in front of her was however, she honestly didn't know. She had never seen an animal quite like it before. It looked like a wolf of some sort, but it was wrong. All wrong.

"E-Easy…" Blossom murmured, slowly raising her hands. "It's ok… I'm not going to hurt you… I just want to go home…" her voice cracked at the end and she cursed silently as the beast cocked its head at her.

It took a large step towards her and Blossom let out a small shriek, falling backwards as she tripped on a rock concealed within the snow. She landed roughly on her back, becoming hopelessly tangled in her bright red cloak. She cursed out loud as she struggled to free herself from within the confines of the material – only to feel a sudden weight on her.

Blossom stopped breathing as a puff of warm air ghosted across her pale face. Peeking up slightly, she almost let out a deafening scream as realized that her face was mere inches away from the wolf's muzzle.

She looked frantically from side to side, only to see its massive paws on either side of her, effectively pinning her down much to her horror. Blossom cringed as she felt something warm drip onto her face. Glancing over to its shoulder – she shuddered as she saw dark red liquid pooling out of an open wound on its shoulder. She couldn't quite be sure, but it almost looked like the fur had been hacked away with something sharp, almost like a large knife-

A soft growl jolted her out of her thoughts as she returned her attention to the wolf's blood red eyes. To her surprise, they weren't the angry, silted irises that she had seen earlier. Instead they were calm, almost dilated as they focused on her.

Another gust of warm air blew over her face and Blossom gaged as she smelt the scent of decay on its breath. The wolf opened its massive jaws, allowing her to get a good view of the rows and rows of sharp teeth inside. Blossom closed her rose orbs, letting out a small sob as she felt tears leak out of the coroners of her eyes.

 _This was it. She was going to die here at the jaws of this monster. As far as she knew her sisters were dead, and she couldn't save them. She couldn't even save-_

Something long and wet slowly licked at her cheek, wiping away the tears that had started to roll down her face, and Blossom's eyes shot open in surprise.

 _It was licking her. The thing was_ licking _her._

Shell-shocked she let it. She lay motionless beneath the beast – not wanting to anger it – as it continued to lick at her face, neck and chest with its rough tongue letting out content growls as it did so. Blossom's heart beat sped up as she began to panic.

What was going on? Was it going to kill her or was it simply cleaning her up before it decided to gorge on her corpus?

She forced herself to relax under the wolf's rough touch and shut her eyes as the red eyed monster continued giving her a tongue bath. She silently began to pray to anyone who was listening.

 _Please, please, please. I don't care what happens to me anymore. Just let my sisters live to see another day!_

The rough licking stopped at that moment and a wet nose pressed itself into her hair; inhaling deeply, causing her eyes to flutter open only to become hypnotized by the wolfs dilated red eyes, which had become liquid black pools.

It let out a quiet rumble out of the back of its throat as it leaned closer to her shoulder, pushing the white fabric of her night gown away with its nose. Blossom struggled feebly against it, not knowing where it was going with its actions, and prepared for the worst.

 _Snap, snap, snap, crunch, crunch, crunch._

The wolf snapped its head up and away from her shoulder, looking into the dark woods behind her, letting out a threating growl and exposing it elongated canines. Blossom watched as its ears flatted against its head and its red eyes return to slits as whatever was making the sound come closer and closer towards them.

Blossom managed to twist her head in the direction of the noise, just in time to see a ragged looking man holding a gun burst though the tree-line.

"I finally found you, ya fuckin' animal!" The man roared, brandishing his shotgun. "Ya think you and your cohorts can kill all of my friends an' I'd just let you walk away?! Think again you fuckin' devil-" he paused in mid rant as his crazed eyes met Blossom's terrified ones.

"Oh my god, what are you doing to her?!" the man shrieked as he flicked the safety off of his gun. "Get your filthy paws off of her you great dirty dog-"

The wolf cut him off with a blood-curdling roar as it sprang off of Blossom and at the remaining hunter.

"NO! Please no!" Blossom screeched terrified, as a shotgun blast rang out, grazing the beast's abdomen as it crashed into the now screaming hunter.

She struggled frantically to get to her feet as she watched as the wolfs claws pierced the man's skin as if it were butter and its teeth sink into the man's neck, his screams fading into a wet gurgle as blood began to pour out of the gaping wounds on his throat.

"Oh god, oh my god!" She sobbed as she thrashed wildly in the confines of her cloak, her long red hair, now splayed across the snow. Just as she was able to regain her footing, a heavy weight pushed her back down on to the ground; sharp claws roughly turning her over onto her back as she met the wild red eyes of the wolf again. Its pupils flashed wildly from slits to dark black pools at it glared down at her shaking form.

Blossom let out a small scream as she glanced over at the dying hunter's direction. A dark red pool was seeping out from underneath him and a fresh blood trail marked by bloody paw prints lead back to the wolf as it snarled furiously above her; its canines stained red by the man's blood.

"Please don't kill me." Blossom whispered up to the infuriated creature. "I don't want to die."

Upon hearing its small captive speak, the wolf's eyes softened slightly. Raising a clawed hand off of her, it allowed her so sit up slightly so her face was closer to its. Blowing another gust of hot air in her face, it stared intently at the tear-stricken girl before it.

Blossom sat up slowly as she raised a hand to wipe at her tears. _Maybe it was going to let her go._ She thought before she shook her head bitterly. The chances of that happening were slim to none she reasoned. After all; it had just killed an armed man in front of her with minimal effort. She could only imagen what it would do to her.

She held the beasts crimson gaze for several long moments, not saying anything. Aside from the heavy pants coming from the demonic creature across from her; it was absolutely silent. Finally, its red irises flicked to her still exposed shoulder before meeting her light pink eyes again. Blossom gulped as the creature began to move its face closer to her skin.

"No. No boy, down." She murmured gently as she hesitantly pushed its muzzle away with a cold hand. The beast moved its head back with an insulted snort to give her a quizzical look.

It eyed her shoulder again and Blossom's heart leapt into her throat as its lips pealed back to expose its elongated fangs. In that moment, she realized what was about to happen.

"NO DON'T-" She cried out just as the wolf lunged forward and bit down hard onto her shoulder.

It took Blossom a few moments to process that the wolf's massive teeth had sunk into her shoulder. At first she was silent – adrenalin coursing through her veins –numbing her to the pain – leaving her unable to feel anything. Then her mind snapped back to the present and she let out a blood-curdling scream.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHAAAAHHHHH!"_

Her scream carried on the frozen wind as she felt a searing pain suddenly rip down her arm and flood her into her chest. She began to thrash wildly in the beasts powerful jaws, causing the teeth to sink deeper into her shoulder and blood to pour forth from the wounds, turning her white nightgown red.

Blossom screeched in agony as the wolf suddenly increased the pressure on her shoulder – biting down even harder than before and Blossom felt a panic attack start to come on as she continued to squirm in its grasp – her fists pounding frantically on its barrel chest in an effort to get it off of her.

 _ **MINE.**_

The dark, feral voice tore through her mind abruptly, causing her to stop her petrified escape antics and stare at the beast in horrified amazement. _What the hell was going on…?_

Just as she was opening her mouth to let out another scream the beast detached its jaws from her shoulder. Blossom nearly passed out from the pain of having the teeth suddenly removed from her skin, causing her eyes to roll to the back of her head. She managed to catch herself at the last moment, supporting herself on her arms as her head lolled back – shoulder bleeding profusely.

Blossom weakly looked up at the feral red eyes of the monster and whimpered as she felt the rough tongue on her skin again – cleaning up the rivulets of blood streaking down her shoulder.

Once the wolf was satisfied, it made eye contact with her once again, its crimson eyes boring into her soul.

 _ **MINE.**_

The dark voice growled in her head once again and Blossom let out a quiet moan as she fell back onto the cold, bloodstained snow. Her vison was darkening at the sides as she struggled to stay awake, but the only things she could focus on were the wolf's blood red eyes.

She frowned as a blurry thought came into her head.

 _Those eyes. They looked vaguely familiar. Like she had seen them somewhere before…_

Her vison began to darken further and the beast growled gently at her, almost as if it were trying to coax her to closing her eyes.

" _Blossom!"_

The faint call came from somewhere behind her. Blossom struggled to turn her head to see who was calling her name, but the action only made her dizzy and her shoulder start to bleed harder. The wolf let out an agitated growl, and slowly began to back away into the tree-line. Blossom watched it go until she could no longer see its glowing red eyes.

"Blossom!"

The voice was getting closer now, but she no longer had the strength to move. Her head fell back and hit the soft snow under her just as light footsteps ran to up her fallen form.

She couldn't make out who it was with her darkening vision but she let out a soft moan as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

"Oh no. God please no, NO! Blossom, oh god no!" She head the mystery person say just as her vison faded to black.

* * *

 _I see you flower._

 _You can't run from me._

 _Not from me._

 _I will have you._

 _You're…_

 _ **MINE.**_

 _ **ALL MINE.**_

" _ **ARRRRWWWWWRRRROOOOOOO!"**_

* * *

Buttercup ran blindly though the dark forest.

She didn't know how long she had been running for now. It felt like hours but she knew it had to have been several minutes at the most. All she knew was that she had to keep running.

 _The thing was still after her._

She hadn't seen it since she had taken off, but she knew it was there. Following her though the trees.

 _Oh my god it's following me. It's_ stalking _me for Christ's sake!_ She thought in a panic as she looked around wildly.

A bit of movement off to her left caught her attention and she spun in that direction, only to see a dark black mass move out of sight again. Buttercup shuddered pitifully as she pulled her cloak around herself. She knew she couldn't keep running forever. She was freezing, tired and horribly lost with no way of getting back to the manor, and sooner or later the thing that was following her was going to get bored of playing with her and come in for the kill.

Buttercup let out a ragged breath, watching as it clouded up in front of her face. Why did she insist on seeing what had made her father so paranoid? Why did she even want to see it so badly in the first place? _Why did she have to put her sister's into harm's way?_ The questions bounced around in her head as she tried and failed to regain her breath.

Now that she had seen it… she truly wished that she hadn't.

She let out a tiny whimper as she stopped running, placing her hands on her knees as she gasped for air. Tears pricked at her lime green eyes. _Blossom, Bubbles._ She could only hope that they had gotten away safely and were returning with help.

 _It's going to be too late._ Buttercup thought to herself miserably. _This thing is going to tear me to shreds before they find me._

" **Rrrrrrrrrggghhhhrrrr."**

The deep rumble cut through the air again, causing her head to snap up, her long dark locks sticking to her sweat covered neck as she frantically searched for the monster.

A rustling in the undergrowth a few feet away from her made her turn towards the sound. There. It was in there. Playing with her, letting her see where it was.

She started t backpedal slightly, not taking her eyes of the moving shrubs. As tired as she was, she wasn't ready to give up just yet. This thing, whatever it was, would have to personally catch her before she gave in.

She almost let out a scream as her back hit a tree and she clutched the gnarled trunk for support as she watched a wolfish looking head move out of the shrubbery and into the open space – watching her with those mesmerizing green eyes.

"Oh shit." Buttercup whispered as she watched in horror as the rest of the beast's body made itself visible to her as it slunk out of the bushes. Moving slowly toward her on all fours, it stalked up to shaking form – like a hunter closing in for the kill.

 _But that was_ exactly _what this was._

Buttercup was unable to take her eyes off of the wolf-like creature as it paused directly in front of her. Now that it was right in front of her, she noticed that even on four legs, it was still the same height as her, and she herself was close to five foot nine.

Buttercup winced as she though back to earlier. This thing has the ability to stand on its hind legs, easily pushing it past eight feet at the least. The only animal that was that big that she knew could do that was a bear, but she knew full well that this… was no bear.

It was something much worse.

The midnight wolf let out what sounded like a content huff as it eyed her. Buttercup tensed as she waited for one of its massive claw-like hands to reach up and tear her skin to shreds – but it didn't. Instead, it continued to inspect her, moving closer to her so it could press its nose against her exposed skin.

 _Oh Christ, now what is it doing?_ Buttercup panicked as she pressed herself further against the tree, wishing she could sink into its stiff bark. Her breathing hitched in her throat as the hulking wolf suddenly slammed its paws into the tree on either side of her – boxing her in.

The beast growled gently as it lowered its massive head down so it was eye level with her. It inhaled sharply before letting a gust of warm air blow over her, temporarily warming her chilled skin. Buttercup began to squirm slightly as its ears pricked forward and it moved its head towards her right arm.

The beast let out a whine as it nudged at her sleeve covered arm with its nose, before taking the fabric in its teeth – mindful of her skin – and began to tug at it, tearing the delicate white fabric.

"Hey! No, bad… dog. Bad dog. Don't do that! Release!" Buttercup cried as she tried to move her arm away from the growling wolf. It let out a harsh snarl from in-between its clenched jaws as it completely tore the sleeve of her nightgown off – causing her to fall silent, as she watched as it moved to lick her forearm.

 _Right on top of her scars Butch had given her as a child._

 _What is going on here?!_ Buttercup panicked as the wolf continued to lick and nip at her marked forearm.

"H-hey. Don't do that." Buttercup murmured weakly as her knees threated to give out. The wolf paid no attention to her as it continued to gently bite at the area, letting a pleased growl escape its jaws.

It finally stopped when she jerked her arm away from its tongue. Letting an annoyed growl escape its maw, it redirected its attention back up to her face. It growled at her once more before lowering its head to lap at her neck, moving her cloak out of the way.

Buttercup felt a scream build up in the back of her throat as it began to lick her neck – slowly moving downward to lap at her collarbone, before dipping even lower to her breasts-

Buttercup pushed its face away from her – blushing furiously. The beast let out an irritated huff at her refusal as it eyed her again, shifting so it was standing completely upright – its claws keeping her trapped in place as it looked down at her.

"What are you?" Buttercup whispered terrified. The beasts deep green eyes focused on her as a throaty rumble left its chest. Buttercup was just about to try and move out of the beasts hold, when suddenly its head jerked upward as its pointed ears swivelled to try and hear a sound off in the distance – its powerful arms tensing around her body as lit listened.

Buttercup strained to hear whatever the beast was listening to. A moment later she heard it.

" _NO! Please no!"_

 **BLAM**

" _ **Rooooaaaarrrrr!"**_

" _Arrrrgggghhhhh!"_

The faint cries of a girl, followed by the burst of a shotgun, followed by an un-earthly roar and a man screaming echoed in the direction she had come from. Buttercup's eyes widened as she recognised the screaming girl.

"Blossom."

Buttercup turned her attention up to the wolf who had lost interest in her and was instead more focused on the faint sounds in the distance – a furious roar tearing out of its maw – echoing the one she head just heard.

 _Oh god. Please don't tell me there's more!_ Buttercup thought desperately as she tried to manoeuvre her way past the wolfs claws.

It turned to stare at her and Buttercup could see the internal conflict in its eyes. _Go investigate the sound or keep her trapped here._ Decisions, decisions.

Maybe, just maybe though, she could try and reason with it. Though she doubted that it would understand her anyways.

"Please let me go." Buttercup whispered as she placed a shaking hand on the creature's muscular arm, feeling the taut muscles relax under her touch. "Please, that's my sister."

" _AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHAAHHHH!"_

The high-pitched scream of her red-haired sister made Buttercup's blood turn to ice. She had never heard her sister make a sound like that before. _She sounded absolutely terrified._

"Screw it." Buttercup muttered as she ducked underneath the beasts arm. If the beast tore her to shreds then so be it, but she would be damned if she idly sat back and did nothing while her sister made those awful sounds.

To her utter surprise it didn't. Instead, it let her run.

Buttercup risked a glance over her shoulder to look back at it, only to see it staring after her – desire prominent in its eyes. Another howl tore through the air making the black beast snarl impatiently. Casting a longing look at her, its slowly dropped back down onto all fours and bolted off into the trees at an alarming speed.

Buttercup shuddered and ran faster, pumping her arms as she ran towards the spot where she had heard the scream emanate from – not daring to look behind her to see if the beast was following.

Finally she reached the spot where she had last left Blossom and Bubbles. Her breath hitched in her throat as she caught sight of a figure – tangled in a red cloak – lying motionless on the snowy ground.

Only one person she knew wore a bright red cloak like that.

"Blossom!" The frantic scream tore out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"Blossom! I'm here hang on!"

She saw her chestnut haired sister's head turn slightly in her direction and a faint moan left her mouth, before her head fell back onto the snow and didn't move again.

Buttercup fell onto her knees beside her sister's head as she frantically cradled her upper body in her arms – unwilling to let it touch the freezing ground again. Her stomach clenched as she noticed that her sister was bleeding profusely from what she could tell was a deep bite mark on her shoulder.

"Oh no. God please no, NO! Blossom, oh god no!" Buttercup wailed as she lifted Blossom's limp body up to her ear. She almost let out a sob of relief as she felt her sister's heartbeat thud against her chest. It was faint, but it was there. She was alive.

She quickly pulled off her own cloak and wrapped it around her sister's shoulder, trying to stanch the blood flow. Casting a look around she almost threw up when she spotted the body of the man who had screamed, lying a few feet away in a pool of his own blood – a trail of bloody paw prints leading away from it and circling around Blossom.

"Oh my god. There are two. It bit her. It killed him and bit her. Why. Why did I leave them?!" Buttercup asked herself as she held Blossom tighter to her. Suddenly she froze, her brilliant green eyes widened in panic as the horrible realization set in.

"Where's Bubbles?!"

"Buttercup?"

* * *

 _You can't hide from me little one._

 _I know where you are._

 _I always know._

 _Tonight is a special night._

 _The moon is full._

 _Hunters are dead._

 _It's you and me._

 _Tonight I make you mine._

" _ **ARRRRWWWWWWRRRRRROOOOOOOOOO!"**_

* * *

"Oh my god, oh my god, it's after me!" Bubbles panicked as she bolted though the dead forest. Her shoes making light crunching sounds as she ran through the snow drifts.

She didn't dare look behind her to see if the beast that looked like it came from some sort of nightmare was following her – she heard it.

It was a few yards behind her and closing in fast. She could hear the heavy pounding of large paws chasing after her – pushing her to run even faster than before.

She wasn't an athlete like Buttercup, but she knew she could be fast when she needed to be, and this was one of those times.

Her breath came out in short puffs as she ducked and weaved through the trees. Her chest ached but she didn't dare slow down, in fear of the beast catching up with her and making her its next victim.

Bubbles clutched at her chest. She couldn't keep running like this for much longer. She knew that she wouldn't be able to outrun the creature behind her, but maybe – she could hide from it.

Banking a sharp right, Bubbles sprinted over to a barren willow tree. Pushing aside the barren, whip like branches she darted behind the wide trunk, slapping a hand over her mouth to muffle her hard breathing.

" **Grrrrrrahhh…"**

Bubbles's heart stopped as she heard the heavy footfalls of the beast stop in the same area as the willow tree. She silently began to pray to anyone who was listening, that the beast would lose her sent and move on, allowing her to go back and find her sisters.

With a grunt, the wolf began to sniff the area around the willow tree's branches – trying to pick up her sent. Bubbles closed her eyes and gripped the bark of the willow tree, wishing that she could disappear. She stayed like that for a few long moments. Finally the wolf lifted its head up from the ground and let out a fearsome snarl, before dashing off into the woods.

Bubbles waited until she couldn't hear the sound of the beasts paws anymore before she peered around the side of the willow tree.

 _Nothing. It was gone._

Bubbles let out a sigh of relief. Leaning back against the bark of the tree, she calmed her pounding heart. Letting out a small sigh she turned to peer around the other side of the tree to make sure that the coast was clear… _Only to come face to face with a pair of feral blue eyes._

Bubbles screamed as the silver furred beast gave her a sick grin, reaching for her with a massive clawed hand.

She let out another scream as she quickly moved out of its range. The beast roared as it clawed at her – taking large chunks of bark out of the willow tree in the process – and lunged at her.

Bubbles spun on her heel and took off running again, her long blonde hair streaming out behind her. This time however the beast was right on top of her, and it didn't feel like playing anymore.

She yelped as she felt a clawed hand land hard onto her shoulder, causing her to trip and fall into the snowy ground. Bubbles let out a terrified shriek and tried to move away only for the same hand to press down gently onto her back, pinning her in place.

Bubbles didn't have to look up to know that the beast was hovering over her. She felt its warm breath on the nape of her neck as it panted deeply. She squirmed under its hand, hoping it would let her up, only to have the clawed appendage press harder into her back.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she felt the creatures muzzle lower itself to the side of her face, jaws open slightly. Her life began to flash before her eyes as its jaws parted wider, allowing her to get a good look at the slightly red stained teeth inside. Something warm dripped onto the back of her leg though her nightgown and Bubbles shuddered, knowing that it was the creature's blood. Even with a hole in its leg it still managed to out-run her. She hadn't had a chance of getting away from it from the start.

The wolf-like creature continued to inspect her, sniffing and growling all the while, causing Bubbles to become more panicked. Crystal tears began to stream down her face silently as the beasts jaws came closer and closer to her face.

"Just make it fast." Bubbles finally said – unable to take the tension anymore. The wolf paused upon hearing her voice and Bubbles continued.

"Please just make it fast. If you're going to kill me, I don't want to feel anything."

The wolf let out a soft growl as lowered its head to nudge the side of hers. Bubbles shut her eyes – waiting for the bite that would be the end of her – only for the beast to shift its weight on top of her and lean towards her exposed left arm, sniffing the appendage slightly.

"W-what are you doing?" Bubbles whimpered as she managed to stop her tears. The beast let out a huff in response and started nudging her arm with its nose, growling with approval. Bubbles cocked a delicate eyebrow in confusion of its antics. Finally with a rumble it began to lick her arm, causing goosebumps to break out over her skin as the rough appendage lapped at her bare arm.

Bubbles stared at the beast in shock. _What was it doing? What was going on here?_

Timidly, she tried to move her arm away from it, only to have a warning growl tear out of its throat, stopping her actions immediately. The wolf continued the strange treatment on her chilled arm for several more minutes before it stopped abruptly.

Casting its haunting blue eyes over to meet her baby blue ones, the beast let out a sound that sounded oddly like a sigh. Bubbles's breath caught in her throat as its intense blue gaze locked onto her upper arm, and the pressure on her back increased – nearly crushing her ribs as she let out a squeak of protest.

The wolf paid no attention to her sounds of protest as it moved its face lower to her arm. Suddenly, without any warning, its powerful jaws snapped down onto her bicep.

Bubbles let out an ear shattering scream as she watched as the teeth sunk into her skin, blood beginning to well out of her arm in-between the wolf's sharp teeth. It let out a grunt as it buried its teeth into her arm further, causing the blonde girl's screams to become louder.

After another moment of agony, it detached its teeth from her bleeding bicep, giving the gash several licks with its rough tongue to staunch the blood flow before lifting its clawed hand off of her back. Bubbles lay sobbing in the cold snow, unable to move as she stared in horror at her bleeding arm.

Her vision swam a few times, cutting to black momentarily as she struggled to focus. Her ears were ringing as blood pounded though them, leaving her unable to hear the rest of the woods around her. The earth seemed to vibrate slightly as she watched as the beast moved so it was standing in front of her.

Bubbles slowly turned her face upwards to see the monster lowered itself on to its belly in front of her. It let out a soft whine at her pain, as it moved to touch her face with its muzzle, mindful of its claws.

Bubbles frowned at the sudden change of the creature. "W-Why?" she murmured, as she fought to keep her eyes open – her voice a dull ring in her ears.

Suddenly, the wolf bolted up onto its hunches as it listened intently to something off in the distance. Bubbles shook her head, trying to hear what the beast was listening to, only to hear a low-pitched buzz in her ears.

The wolf began to snarl into the darkened forest, pausing after a minute to briefly check on Bubbles. Its ears flicked forward as she was able to make out another sound off in the distance.

" _Aaaaaahhhhaahhhh."_

The sound was muffled due to her plugged ears but Bubbles was certain that it was a scream coming from the spot that she had come from moments before. Her eyes widened as she tried to push herself up off the frozen earth again.

 _Blossom._

Avoiding putting too much pressure on her left arm; Bubbles slowly began to rise out of the snow, not wanting to attract the beast's attention. The wolf turned its head to look at her and let a low rumble slid out of its throat as it watched her lift herself up – clutching her bleeding arm as she sat back onto her knees – her eyes not leaving the wolf for a moment.

"What are you doing?" She heard herself ask quietly as the wolf contained to stare at her. _It hadn't killed her. Why hadn't it killed her?_

Bubbles's thoughts were cut off abruptly as the beast rose up off of its hunches and onto its hind legs – its silhouette black against the moonlight – and shifted closer to her

She shut her eyes as she felt a long, rough tongue slowly lap the side of her face, making goosebumps break out all over her skin at the contact. There was a quiet growl and the sound of heavy footfalls taking off unevenly though the snow. Bubbles opened her eyes again only to find herself alone – A trail of slightly bloody clawed prints leading away from her in the snow.

Bubbles nearly collapsed in relief. She was alive. Aside from her bleeding arm she was alright. The beast had actually let her go.

" _Blossom, hang on, I'm coming!"_

The faint sounds of a scream echoed off of the trees around her. Bubbles rubbed at her ears furiously, trying to unplug them as she stood up on shaking legs.

"Buttercup?" Bubbles whispered, "Buttercup, is that you?"

Not bothering to try and figure it out, her feet began to move on their own accord. Retracing her old footprints she began to run, suddenly terrified about what she might see when she got back to the spot where she had left Blossom.

" _Oh no. God please no, NO! Blossom, oh god no!"_ A raspy, feminine voice cut through the trees in front of her, and Bubbles could immediately tell that it belonged to her raven haired sister. Relief flooded though her as she pushed her way through the trees toward the sound of her sister's voice.

 _She was alive. Buttercup was alive! But Blossom…_

Bursting into the clearing she had been in before, Bubbles was greeted by the sight of her middle sister hunched over something with her back turned toward her, muttering incoherently. Bubbles carefully made her way towards Buttercup, not wanting to startle her. Her arm began to throb again, making her wince and clutch her upper arm again.

"Buttercup?" Bubbles asked. Buttercup whipped around to face her, her bright green eyes wild with panic. As soon as she saw her, the panic faded from her eyes and was replaced by what Bubbles could only describe as happiness.

"Bubbles, oh thank god!" Buttercup tugged her over to her and pulled her into a one armed hug, which Bubbles returned enthusiastically.

"I thought you were dead." Buttercup muttered in her ear. "I heard the screams and I came running back here, but I couldn't find you, I only found Bloss-"

She choked suddenly and her face went pale. It was then Bubbles glanced down at her sister's lap and almost screamed. There, lying unconscious and wrapped in both Buttercup's and her own cloak; was Blossom.

"W-WHAT HAPPENED?" Bubbles wailed as she knelt down to touch a hand to her sister's abnormally pale cheek. "She's alive, she lost conscience after I found her, but something bit her… something bit her really badly." Buttercup assured her, shifting the fabric to expose Blossom's right shoulder.

Bubbles nearly vomited as the bright red, angry looking flesh stared back up at her. Deep holes and been punctured into her skin and a few were bleeding freely. Buttercup quickly re-bandaged her shoulder as she looked up at Bubbles.

"We have to get her out of here." She said firmly. "She'll go into shock if we don't take care of this now. We have to get back to the manor somehow."

"I know," Bubbles whispered. "How though? We're lost!" Buttercup thought for a long moment. Looking at something past her, Buttercup quietly muttered. "Check and see if he has a compass on him."

"Who?" Bubbles asked confused as Buttercup nodded to something past her. Bubbles screamed as she turned to see a dead man lying in a pool of his own blood a few feet of to the side. "OH NO! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"Bubbles hush!" Buttercup snarled as she shifted Blossom's limp form in her arms. "They could still be here!"

"Who?"

"Those things!" Buttercup hissed as her eyes frantically darted around the clearing. "Listen Bubbles, there isn't just one in here, there's two. The second one bit Bloss and must have killed the other guy – that's why she was screaming earlier."

"Buttercup… there isn't two." Bubbles whispered solemnly.

"What do you mean?" Buttercup's bright green eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at her blonde sister. Bubbles sighed and moved her cloak out of the way to expose her bleeding bicep to her, watching as her eyes widened in horror.

"There's _three._ " She whispered. "The second one appeared after you took off and the third one appeared soon after that. Blossom made me run – saying that she would hold them off – but the third one came after me." She explained miserably.

"It chased me. I-I thought it was going to kill me bit it didn't. It bit me and then it ran when it heard the screams."

"Let me see your arm." Buttercup said sternly as she held out her free hand. Bubbles shook her head. "I'm fine. It's not as bad as Blossom's. It hurts but I'll live." She paused as she tucked her arm back inside her cloak.

"How did you get away? Did it catch you?" she asked increadabliosly as she inched her way toward the body of the man. Buttercup shook her head. "It did, but it let me go… It doesn't matter right now. When we get back to the manor I'll tell you. It was… interesting."

Bubbles bent down to the man's level. Stepping around the pool of blood, she turned him onto his side with a disgusted sound as she searched his pockets. "Aha!" she cried triumphant as she pulled a compass out of one of the man's pockets.

"Perfect, come here and let me see that." Buttercup praised her younger sister as she held out a hand for the compass. Bubbles passed it over to her and Buttercup began to watch the spinning needle closely.

"Do you know where we are?" Bubbles asked quietly as she moved back over to Blossom's side, clasping her red haired sisters cold hands in her own.

"I know that the manor is in the west side of town, and this compass is saying that we're in the east. If we just walk towards the west we should be able to make our way to the edge of the woods and find our way back to the manor." Buttercup quickly explained, as she moved to stand up.

"Here, help me with Blossom. We need to get out of here and fast. I'm freezing, Bloss is unconscious and you're arm mangled. If we're lucky, no one will have noticed that we've gone." Buttercup grunted as she slung one of Blossom's arms over her shoulders as she slowly stood up. Bubbles rushed over to hoist Blossoms other arm over her shoulders as they slowly moved forward.

"Oh," Bubbles sighed as she looked down at Blossom's feet, "Her feet are dragging in the snow, what should we do?"

"Nothing. There's nothing we can do except get her out of here." Buttercup replied as she trudged forward, looking down at the compass in her free hand. "We didn't get too far into the forest before we all split up, so we shouldn't be too far away from the tree-line." She pointed out.

After several long minutes of tugging Blossom though the snow covered forest, Bubbles saw a faint light emanating from the trees in front of them. "Look!" She pointed the light out to Buttercup, "Is that the manor?"

"It might be, or a shop at the edge of town, but I really hope it's the manor." Buttercup admitted as she passed the compass over to Bubbles, who in turn shot her a questioning look.

"Hold this. We need to move fast, Red looks worse than before." She said worriedly, as she hoisted her sister onto her back with a feminine grunt. "There are perks to being the tallest out of the three of us." She managed with strained grin as she moved forward towards the light.

The girls made their way towards the light source and soon found themselves at the edge of the forest – standing before the black iron bars that surrounded the Bellum manor. Bubbles and Buttercup both breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of their home.

"Oh thank Christ." Buttercup muttered as she moved towards the fence. "How are we going to get Blossom into the house without being seen?" Bubbles asked worriedly as she checked on the red head.

"The same way we got out: Through the bars and into the window we climbed out off." Buttercup responded as she gently moved Blossom off her back, placing her feet on the ground. "The only difference is this time she's unconscious, so I'm going to need your help lifting her… Thankfully the spaces between the bars were big enough for us to slip through the first time." She muttered as she passed though one of the gaps in the iron fence, keeping a hold on Blossom.

Bubbles carefully maneuvered her sister though the bars over to where Buttercup was waiting before slipping though onto their property herself. Turning around, she glanced back towards the woods in disbelieve.

"Did we really just meet the beasts that have been murdering everyone?" she whispered in shock. A long, drawn-out howl echoed from somewhere in the dark wood, answering her question.

Buttercup shuddered. "I don't want to think about that. I'm amazed that we're still alive in all honesty. Let's be grateful about that."

She moved over to the window they had come out of previously and pushed it open, beckoning Bubbles over. "Come on, I need your help getting Red inside."

As the girls began to move their unconscious sister inside the safety of their home, the full moon vanished behind several dark clouds above them, plunging the world below into darkness. Unbeknownst to them, a pair of insidious red eyes was watching them at the edge of the forest – glittering ominously.

* * *

 _She's mine now._

 _No one can have her._

 _She belongs to me. Mine alone._

 _I've staked a claim._

 _Watch out._

 _I'll kill anyone who tries to take her away from me._

 _Just wait and see._

 _ **YOU'RE**_ _ **MINE NOW**_

" _ **AWWWWWWRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**_

* * *

Buttercup peered around the corner leading out into the hallway of the manor silently; checking to make sure the coast was clear.

When she was sure that there was no one in the hallway, she beckoned Bubbles forward and helped move Blossom into the large downstairs bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her.

"Ok. I don't think that mum or dad have been downstairs during the time we left." Buttercup whispered as she proceeded to tie her long, dark hair back as she peeled away her cloak off of Blossom's freezing figure.

"T-That's good." Bubbles's teeth chattered as she rubbed her arms – mindful of her bitten one – as she moved over to the large basin sink to fill it with hot water, running her hands under the boiling liquid with a blissful sigh.

"Soak a few of the towels with hot water – we need to bring Red's temperature back up and clean out the bite." Buttercup ordered as she peeled back Blossom's red cloak – nearly gaging at the sight of the large bite mark.

Bubbles nodded and got to work, thoroughly soaking the thick bathroom towels in the hot water, bringing them over to Buttercup who proceeded to wipe Blossom's face and neck before placing it on her bitten shoulder.

A strangled gasp came from the beautiful red head as her light pink eyes fluttered open, blearily looking at her surroundings. "Where- Where am I?" She whispered as she touched her forehead lightly.

"Oh thank goodness." Bubbles whispered in relief as she grasped her sister's hand. "We thought we lost you for a little bit there Blossom." She admitted gently. "You're safe, back at the house." Buttercup added as she began to scrub lightly at her wounded shoulder. "We carried you back here… You were attacked." She managed to bite out, her voice clipped.

Blossom turned her head to see her midnight haired sister and tears sprang to her eyes.

"Buttercup… You're alive… You ran and that – that thing was chasing you! I thought for sure you were dead… How did you get away?" she murmured.

Buttercup shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now. Your my first priority, then I'm going to look after Bubbles's arm." She informed her. Blossom's eyes narrowed in confusion as she stiffly turned to stare at her blonde sister. "Why… what happened to you Bubbles? Did you hurt yourself?"

Bubbles shuffled uncomfortably. "Um, well… the beast caught up to me." She admitted softy. "It bit me, just like you, but it let me go – It's not as bad as yours is!" she added quickly, seeing Blossom's eyes widen in horror, "Mine isn't as deep as yours is. It hurts a little, but once I clean it out, I'll be good as new!"

"It-It bit you." Blossom whispered as Buttercup continued to wash her shoulder. "They didn't kill us… They just bit us… I don't understand…" Her voice trailed off as she fought to stay awake. "Buttercup? Did the beast that was chasing you bite you as well?"

Buttercup snorted and shook her head. "Unbelievable. Half-dead and you're still more concerned about us rather than yourself. I don't get you sometimes." She admitted fondly as she opened one of the bathroom sinks draws – pulling out a roll of sterile white gauze.

"No… It didn't bite me. But it was… defiantly interested in me for whatever reason." She admitted as she dressed Blossom's wound. "It caught me, but it let me run off when I heard you- when I heard you scream." She muttered, her voice dropping off as she hung her head in shame.

"Look, about tonight…" She started, only for Blossom to interrupt her weakly.

"It's not your fault. It's mine." She murmured sleepily as Buttercup finished applying the gauze. "It's my job to make sure that the two of you are safe. I shouldn't have let you got out into the woods. If I had been firmer, we wouldn't have gotten chased."

"Bull, it's my fault. _I'm_ the one who wanted to go out. Neither you nor Bubbles wanted too. I dragged the both of you with me. It's my fault Bloss. Not yours. Don't blame yourself." Buttercup snapped as she looked at her shaking sisters. Regret coursed through her veins as she glanced at their bleeding marks.

 _All of this could have been avoided if we had stayed inside like dad told us too._ She thought miserably as she leaned back against the bathroom wall; resting her face on her knees. Now both of her sisters were hurt, and she knew that she was the one to blame.

"I'm so sorry girls." She whispered; voice raw with emotion. "I'm so, so sorry."

* * *

" _Grandma, Grandma will you tell me a story?"_

" _Of course my dear, what would you like to hear?"_

" _The ones about the Werewolfs!"_

" _Well, those are rather dark for someone of your age to hear about. Who told you about them?"_

" _Pa did!"_

" _Of course he did."_

" _Will you tell me about them?"_

" _Not right now, they'll give you nightmares; but I will tell you that they are very dangerous and you should never go near them. Some people say that they are an omen for death itself."_

" _But they're just stories, right Grandma?"_

" _Hrm, all stories have to originate from somewhere my dear. Those ones tend to have more truth behind them then not…"_

" _Oh. Pa said that they're humans that transform into a wolf on the full moon!"_

" _He's not wrong. He has plenty of experience with them-"_

" _Is that why he's leaving on another hunting trip?"_

" _Ha, no darling, no. It's just business as usual as far as I know. I think he's just going after some kind of regular game this time around."_

" _One day when I'm bigger, I'm going to be a hunter like him Grandma, just watch me!"_

" _I know you will dear. You'll be able to fallow in your father, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather's foot-steps as well. Your father will be very proud of you."_

" _Then when I'm older will you tell me stories about the Werewolfs?"_

" _Yes. When you're older I will. God knows you'll need to know about them…"_

" _What was that Grandma?"_

" _Nothing Mitch. I was just saying that you need to wake up."_

"… _Grandma? You're not making any sense…"_

" _You need to wake up Mitch."_

" _Wake up."_

"WAKE UP!"

Mitch's eyes snapped open as he flung himself up out of the snowbank he was in; up into a combat position – fists raised, and teeth clenched shut, breathing heavily out of his nostrils as he shook off the dream he'd had.

"Oh my god… He's awake! Men, he's up! Get over here! He's awake!"

Mitch let out a groan at the unfamiliar man's yelling; placing a hand on his temples only to wince as a throbbing headache overtook him. "What the hell?" He muttered squinting at his surroundings.

He was still in the forest but it was daytime – probably mid-morning he guessed, judging on how bright the woods were. A young man that he didn't recognize was calling over to a group of other men who came running towards them. Mitch's eyebrows furrowed as he scanned their faces one by one. None of them had been a part of the hunting group he had been with last night.

Speaking of the hunting group…

"Where is my team?" He asked them hoarsely as they drew nearer. The men stiffened at the question, not giving him an answer. Mitch paused, that was never a good sign. He opened his mouth to ask them again, when the man who had found him answered.

"Dead. They're all dead sir." He muttered looking down at his feet.

"W-what?" Mitch blanked shocked; blinking his eyes owlishly as he stumbled over his feet, swaying lightly in place.

"They're all dead sir. We're spent the past two hours searching for you and the other twelve that you brought in here with you. So far all the ones we're found are dead. We're still searching for the last hunter – we've been finding them everywhere – but we have every reason to believe that he's dead as well." The young man clarified, refusing to look him in the eye as he said it.

"Oh god." Mitch muttered softly as he placed his hand over his left eyes, feeling the deep gashes that the beast left on him. "This was a fucking disaster. These things were smart…"

"Did you see it?" A man near the back of the small group of men asked quietly. Mitch let a dark chuckle escape him as he clutched his pounding head. "Yes I did." He confirmed. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"Only problem is: there isn't one. There are _three._ "

A awful silence overtook the small group of townspeople as they gaped in shock at the news. "No…" One of the men muttered. "Three… that's not possible…"

"Oh really? I watched one kill two of my hunters in less than a minute without breaking a sweat – only for two more to come out of the woodwork and take turns trying to rip my head off before killing the rest of my group. Are you sure you want to argue with me?" Mitch snapped back, his dark brown eyes flashing dangerously.

The man fell silent. Mitch grunted as he removed his hand from his aching face. "That's what I though." He growled.

"How did you survive?" Another man piped up. "Everyone else turned up dead. How did you only end up unconcise?" Mitch shrugged. "I have no idea. The first beast… The Alpha, I'll call him – we ended up fighting. I managed to stab him in the shoulder and he smashed my head off the ground. I guess he thought I was dead when I didn't get back up."

Glancing around his feet, his eyes lit up when he noticed something shiny in the snow. Bending down, he pulled out the hunting knife he had used on the beast from last night – the blade stained red with the creature's blood.

"See?" he held the knife up for the small group of men to see. "I did stab it, but that was the most damage I was able to do to it before I got knocked out."

"What is it-they though? The young man from before corrected himself. "Do you know what it is?"

"I may have an idea." Mitch growled. "It's pretty unbelievable, but this was no ordinary animal from last night. I need to make sure of a few things before I say anything though." He snarled as he stiffly began to make his way past the men. The dream – no, the _memory_ still fresh in his mind.

It had been of a conversation that he had with his Grandmother when he was five or six. She had always been the one to tell him stories of mythological beasts in his youth, only that time had been different and she had refused to tell him any on the werewolf – instead opting to avoid the subject completely.

 _Come to think of it, that had also been the last time he had seen his father alive…_

Mitch shook his head as he continued past the bewildered looking townspeople. Maybe Berserk and her sisters really were on to something when they had warned him…

"Mitch your face! You need to get that looked at!" One of the older men called out after him. "It's fine! I'll be fine. I need to go see the Professor… I need to speak with him." _He knows. He knows something about these things. The one hunter said he had seen them. I need to find out what he knows._

"In the meantime, you might want to let the morgue know that there are more bodies that need to be taken care of." He called back over his shoulder as he headed for the edge of the woods.

 _God knows they'll be more before we're able to get rid of these things once and for all._

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

" _Brick… Brick… Brick. Get the hell up. Wake up, come on…"_

Brick opened his ruby red eyes slowly, only to find himself staring up at the overcast sky above him.

He slowly sat up – popping his back and neck painfully, waking him up further as he stretched. He cast a look over to his right only to find Boomer, half-naked and staring at him worriedly.

"Morning." He muttered as he began to rise stiffly. Briefly scanning the area, he determined that he and his brother were back on the Jojo property; lying a few feet away from the family crypt. He cocked an eyebrow at his youngest brother and fought back a small grin. "You might want to find some pants Boom."

"I could say the same to you." Boomer muttered, nodding at him. Brick glanced down, only to realize that his clothing situation was the same as Boomer's.

"Touché." He agreed, crossing his arms over his muscular chest. "Where's Butch?"

"He's over there." Boomer pointed over his shoulder at Butch who was passed out on his side almost complete bare.

"I've been trying to get him up for the past half an hour, he won't budge. At lest you woke up, I'm going to need to take a look at your shoulder; it looks like you got stabbed or something. That's the same shoulder that you got shot with too."

Brick glanced over at his right shoulder only to see that Boomer was indeed right – it did look like he got a sharp blade pierced though his shoulder. The skin around the area was jagged and pink, running across the faint bullet wound he had received the last time he transformed. He winced at the sight before he turned to look at Boomer and froze.

His thigh had a bullet shaped hole in it. The skin around the area was red and inflamed, looking somewhat burned, forcing him to keep it slightly elevated and off the ground.

"What the hell happened Boomer." Brick asked harshly. Boomer winced.

"I got shot – I think." He responded, rubbing his face tiredly. "I managed to get the bullet out, I just need to clean it and I'll be fi-"

"Bullshit. A wound like that would have been healed by now. Why does yours still look recent?" Brick hissed.

"I DONT KNOW!" Boomer yelled, causing Butch to stir slightly. "I have no idea why it hasn't healed over yet. My healing factor isn't working properly on it! My skin feels like its _burning_ and my hand looks the same as my leg! _LOOK AT IT!"_ He practically roared as he shoved his hand into Brick's face.

Sure enough, his hand was pink with light white lines running through the skin, looking eerily similar to a second degree burn.

"Brick, what is going on? What is this?" Boomer asked him, beginning to panic.

"I don't know." Brick admitted softy, looking back and forth between his thigh and his hand. "What did you do last night Boom? Think. There has to be something you remember."

"I got shot." Boomer repeated as he closed his eyes. "By some hunter… I remember going after a few of them, but this one – he was different. He shot me, but it wasn't by a regular bullet – this one hurt _a lot,_ more than a regular bullet. It was-" He trailed off as a confused look crossed his face.

"It was…" Brick pressed, motioning for him to continue.

"…Shiny." Boomer finally muttered. "Really shiny. I don't know why, but that's what I remember."

"Could the two of you be any louder? Christ, I was actually having a pretty decent nap."

Butch growled as he came to stand beside Brick. Both he and Boomer averted their eyes at their middle brother's indecency, causing him to grin at their discomfort.

The grin slipped off his face however, when he looked down and saw the ugly wound on Boomer's leg. He was silent for a few moments as he took in the sight.

"The fuck happened to your leg?"

 _WACK_

"OW!"

"I'M TRYING TO FIGURE THAT OUT!"

"WELL IT WS JUST A QUESITON, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO HIT ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Brick closed his eye and groaned into the palm of his hand as his brother's began to argue in the background. He didn't need this first thing in the morning after a rough transformation. It was bad enough that Boomer had gone and completely messed up his leg and hand somehow during their transformation; he didn't need to deal with his siblings pointless fighting.

He ran a hand though his long, tangled red locks; wincing as his fingers were ensnared by several knots. He sighed, he needed a shower and a haircut – his mane was becoming more and more unmanageable with every full moon. Turning around, he began to walk away from his bickering siblings and began to walk in the direction of the mansion.

"Hey Brick?"

He paused as his name was called out. Turning slightly back to look at his brothers he nodded. "What?" He asked, slightly irritated.

Boomer shuffled his feet and looked down before muttering. "Do you feel… different at all?"

Brick paused. Now that he thought about it, he _did_ feel different. It was almost like he was feeling _lighter_. His muscles were tingling slightly and he felt rejuvenated – more so then any other time he had transformed into the wolf.

He nodded. "Yes… Actually I do. Why?"

Boomer shrugged. "I feel it too. I don't know why, but I feel like I did something last night. There was this sent last night… and a girl… she was so clear. I could see her perfectly. She wasn't hazy like everything else when we transform. I think I did something to her. I-I think…" He paused as he debated saying his next few words.

"I think it was Bubbles Utonium."

Brick and Butch both froze. "Oh no." Butch muttered quietly as he fisted his hands in his spiky black hair. "Oh no." he repeated. "Oh _shit."_ He ground out with a snarl.

"What?" Boomer asked him frantically. "Buttercup." Butch rumbled. "I keep chasing after a girl. That's all I remember aside from the hunters last night. I had her pinned up against a tree… I couldn't figure out who it was, but when you mentioned Bubbles… Oh god I hope I didn't hurt her." He mumbled sullenly, turning his forest green eyes downwards. "I mean, I don't think I did… the wolf seemed pretty happy to see her…"

Brick remained silent. There was something else he remembered from last night. Squeezing his eyes shut he tried to focus on the fleeting memory.

" _NO, DON'T!"_

 _And then the sweet copper taste flooding his senses, making him feel like he was drowning._

" _Aaaaaahhhhhaaaahhh!"_

 _A scream that sounded heavenly to him, overloading his body and frying his nerves… This had to be what ecstasy felt like._

 _Then he saw her eyes – those gorgeous_ pink _eyes that were burned into his mind, and her wild red hair splayed out across the snow…_

"Brick?"

Brick snapped back to reality, feeling as if someone had dumped a bucket of icy water onto him. "Do you remember anything? Did you see Blossom-"

"I don't know. Maybe." He dodged their question. He wouldn't tell them yet, not until he was completely certain. He ran his tongue over the back of his teeth, finding a lingering sweetness residing in his mouth. A sadistic smirk crept onto his face as he savored the residual taste.

 _She was absolutely divine._

"A better question is _why were they out in the woods?"_ Butch snarled. "They could have been killed or worse!"

"Again, I don't know." Brick responded. "Let's make sure that it was them to begin with. I don't want to go jumping to conclusions."

"It had to be them. Who else could it have been." Boomer argued quietly. "We don't normally let people walk away during the full moon."

"No, but it never hurts to check." Brick agreed as he ran a hand though his tangled mane, growling at the knots he encountered. "Next time they come to see us here; we'll check them for bites. Just to be certain." He stated firmly as he turned back around to head back inside the mansion.

"Where are you going?" Butch called out confused.

"To take a shower and get a hair-cut. It's getting too long to handle now."

* * *

Blossom stared blankly out the carriage window as she desperately tried to block out the voice that was screeching on and on in her ear next to her.

Of course that voice had to belong to a girl with curly, red-brown hair, who instead on dressing all in yellow.

Of course said person had to be the one girl in the world who hated her guts.

Of course it had to be the one girl that she herself hated just as much.

Of course the girl in question had to be Princess Morebucks – the infamous duchess of Citysville and the bane of Blossom's existence.

It was the morning right after the full moon. As soon as her father had seen the search party enter the forest, he had immediately gotten his things together, saying that he was going to go speak with Mojo about the latest attack and had invited her along with him. Despite having gotten little to no sleep during the night, Blossom had agreed to come, as to not arouse suspicion.

True to his word, her father had contacted Kingston Morebucks about their trip up to the Jojo estate and had invited Princess to come along, though he was reluctant to do so.

So far the yellow clad girl had done nothing but complain the whole trip up to the estate, slowly driving both Blossom and her father mad.

Blossom stuffed a groan as she pressed her face farther into the glass window. Why couldn't her sisters have come on the ride to the Jojo estate? If they had been there with her, she would have been able to tolerate Princess better then she was currently, however they weren't there, and Blossom was almost at her wit's end.

It was just her luck that Buttercup – who never got sick – came down with a crippling cough, which forced her to stay behind. Bubbles – being the natural care-giver she was – had opted to stay behind to keep Buttercup company and look after her in Blossom's absence, leaving the rose orbed girl to make the trip to the Jojo mansion alone.

The thought made the red head roll her eyes. She would have preferred to go alone. Anything was better than having to deal with the insufferable Princess; who had insisted on sitting beside her, solely to torment her on the way to the mansion.

The girl's whining was getting unbearable, yet Blossom could only grin and bear it for the time, pretending to listen to the yellow clad girl, whist trying to keep her mind off of her throbbing shoulder.

It was better than it had been when the _thing_ had first bitten down on it, but it was nowhere near healed. Thankfully, the creature had bitten down on the junction where her shoulder met her neck; a spot that was easy to cover up, thanks to the winter clothing that she and her sisters had to wear to keep warm against the bitter chill that had settled into Townsville, making it exponentially easier to hide the marks from her father.

She snuck a glance over at her father, who was sitting across from the two girls, nodding his head politely to whatever Princess was saying. Blossom noticed however, that a small twitch had begun to manifest itself underneath his right eye, letting her know that he was just as annoyed as she was.

She stifled a chuckle; wincing as the slight movement forced her shoulder to shift, sending a jolt of pain down her arm and up her neck.

The wound was clean, she and her sisters had made sure of that, but it was painful and was taking a remarkably long time to close up – still bleeding every now and again and forcing her to change the bandages often.

Blossom shifted the dark fabric that made up the shoulder of her dress slightly to peer down at the sterile white bandages that covered her left shoulder.

 _No blood._ That was a good sign. She hadn't bled through the current bandages just yet. She sighed gently as she absentmindedly as she traced the spare roll of gauze that she kept in her coat pocket. There wasn't any blood now, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't start to bleed later.

Blossom sighed tiredly. That would be a disaster if her shoulder opened up during her visit at the depressing estate. She wasn't taking any chances with her arm the way that it was which was why she had brought the extra wrappings along in the first place. If her shoulder happened to open up during her visit, she could just as easily excuse herself and clean up in one of the mansion's many bathrooms.

Blossom eyed her aching shoulder distastefully. It was a decent plan, but she couldn't keep it up forever. Sooner or later someone would notice, and then she would have to explain that she and her sisters had snuck out into the woods and… and…

 _Seen the thing._

 _The thing that murdered the hunters and her Uncle._

 _The same thing that mauled her shoulder… and let her go, otherwise unharmed._

Blossom shuddered. _Why? Why had it let her go?_ She had seen the way it tore apart that unfortunate hunter before her eyes, and yet – it simply let her go.

The beast could have very easily killed her when she was limp in its jaws – if it had bitten any father up her neck, it could have easily snapped it in two.

But it hadn't. Instead, it had bitten her and then released her after she had started to scream.

 _ **MINE.**_

Blossom shook her head as the deep, primal voice entered her thoughts once again. She didn't understand why the word had seemingly entered her mind while the thing bit down on her. It was like the beast had _willingly_ projected the word into her head – like it was speaking to her.

 _No, that's insane!_ Blossom thought desperately. _It couldn't have… I-it was just my brain coming up with wild scenarios, nothing more!_

Yet, she still couldn't explain why it had come up with that one word alone.

Or the deep, roaring voice that had said it.

 _ **MINE.**_

Blossom flinched as the word bounced around in her head. There was something seriously wrong with the creature in the woods. It was unlike anything that she had ever seen before.

But it was the eyes of the beast that haunted her. Those narrowed, deep, blood red eyes, which had been glued on her lithe frame, had stuck with her – terrorizing her dreams.

But Blossom couldn't help but feel that she had seen those eyes somewhere before.

 _There was something about those eyes. Something horribly familiar._

Blossom turned her head to glance at her father from the corner of her eye. He had called the beast a Hybrid, but she knew better. This… Thing, this _entity –_ was in a league all of its own.

"… Isn't that right Blossom?"

"Hrm?" Blossom snapped her head up, turning in Princess's direction. "Sorry, I didn't catch the last part, do you mind repeating it?"

Princess sneered at her, the corners of her eyes crinkling unpleasantly at the edges. She huffed as she repeated herself.

"I was asking if you agreed with me: These lords live completely out of the way. The ride up here is _so boring,_ don't you agree?"

"Oh yes, well… they do live rather far away from town, but I wouldn't say that the trip to get there is boring." Blossom responded levelly. "You get to admire such beautiful scenery, I think that the rolling hills covered in snow are such a pretty sight, don't you?"

Princess groaned slightly as she fell back into her cushioned seat. "You are such a blumpkin. If you like the scenery here so much, why did you move to Citysville of all places?"

"You'd have to ask my father, I don't remember why-" Blossom trailed off as the feral red eyes snapped across her line of vision again. _Well_ , _perhaps I do know part of the reason._ She thought to herself, as she reached up to touch her bandaged shoulder lightly.

John tilted his head toward Blossom as he silently observed her. He had noticed that his eldest daughter had been very quiet and withdrawn though-out the ride up to the Jojo estate, but hadn't said anything to her due to Princess being in the carriage with them. He made a mental note to himself to ask her about it later when they returned home, away from Princess.

Blossom shrugged gently as resumed her previous position in the carriage. "I don't think you have to worry about being stuck in here for much longer Princess – we're here."

The chestnut haired girl nodded out the window. Sure enough the massive stone structure that was the Jojo mansion was rapidly coming into sight on the horizon. Princess gaped slightly at the intimidating building, as she pressed her face against her side of the window to get a better look.

"Oh my god, it's _huge._ I imagined that they were wealthy, but not to this extent! Blossom, you've been holding out on me!"

Blossom rolled her eyes at the statement. "Oh yes. I've been purposefully hiding the mansion and it's _very wealthy_ inhabitants from you purposely. My most sincere apologies."

Princess turned away from the window to give the rose orbed girl a dirty look. "Of course you are. If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were _jealous._ What's the matter _Pinky?_ Is one of the brothers in there your _love interest?"_ Her beady brown eyes gleamed maliciously at the thought. "Afraid that I'll steal him from you?"

"NO!" Blossom gaped at the girl beside her. "No, not at all, I'm simply friends with them! I just don't want you to get the idea that you can simply waltz into their household, woo them, and drain them of their money – Just like the last few dukes you've been involved with."

Princess flushed with rage at what Blossom was implicating. "Why you – you think you can talk to me like that? I'm here simply to –"

"Oh would you look at that girls – we're here!"

John cut across quickly as the carriage came to a stop in front of the grand stone steps leading up to the mansion's front door, effectively stopping the cat-fight that was brewing.

 _and not a moment too soon._ John thought to himself, as he discreetly wiped a small amount of sweat that had started to collect on his brow.

Princess didn't break her furious gaze from Blossom's defiant one. Finally the curly haired girl blinked, before her face broke out into a crooked smile.

"Well. I'll just see what happens then, shall we? If you and you're sisters aren't involved with them, then you won't mind if I court one of them, will you?" She grinned.

"Go ahead." Blossom seethed. "You can try, but I'm warning you: they aren't so easily fooled by whatever little tricks you have up your sleeve. Not unlike the other barons and dukes that you've toyed with. They're smarter than that."

Princess flashed her a wicked smile. "We'll see. No man can resist my charms. I have yet to meet one that can." She grinned as she opened the door and exited the carriage. Blossom and her father close behind.

"Is she… really going to attempt to seduce the Jojo brothers?" John whispered to his eldest as they walked up to the front door behind Princess.

Blossom shrugged. "I suppose. That's certainly what it sounds like. Princess is just money hungry and this is simply another one of her attempts to court a wealthy lord and drain him of his finances – that's nothing new." She responded, "I don't know what they're going to make of her honestly."

John sighed at he knocked on the massive oak door. "I suppose we'll just have to see." He murmured in his daughter's ear as the door slowly began to open.

"Come in!" The deep, accented voice that belonged to Mojo echoed from inside the mansion. The ape like man suddenly appeared at the door, grinning as he glanced up at his guests.

"John, Blossom, always nice to see you – and oh – you've brought someone new?" he asked, glancing at Princess curiously.

"Princess Morebucks, daughter of Kingston Morebucks, Duchess of Citysville." Princess introduced herself as she extended her hand, which Mojo took, pressing a chaff kiss to it.

"Charmed." He grumbled, as he pushed the door open wider, allowing them access to the rest of the mansion. "Now do come in, it's bitterly cold outside, and I would hate if any of you froze on my doorstep." He said as he ushered them inside the foyer, shutting the door behind them.

"Forgive me about the abruptness of my visit Mojo." John started as he took off his coat. "But I'm assuming that you've heard that the hunting party that tried to trap these… things; were slaughtered last night. I figured now would be as good as a time as any to discuss any evidence."

Mojo nodded understandingly at the tired looking professor.

"John, if you will, we may head down to my laboratory to discuss the most recent attack and go over what the files of the deceased hold. We are on to something big here – we don't have a moment to lose!"

"Oh yes of course Mojo, but what about my daughter and Miss Princess-"

"Don't you worry about them, I'm sure my sons would be more than willing to entertain them for a while… isn't that right Brick?" Mojo asked without turning around.

"Absolutely."

The deep, rumbling voice sounded through-out the mansion foyer, causing Blossom to look up to the top of the staircase where Brick's muscular form stood – freshly showered and his long red hair cropped and tied back in a short ponytail – only to find his unnatural red eyes boring into hers again.

She froze as she met his gaze.

 _Red. They were so red. How did she not notice what a deep colour of red they were before?_

Blossom reached up to touch her shoulder again, and Brick's eyebrows narrowed at the gesture. Blossom shuddered under the intensity of his gaze, but found herself unable to look away.

"Blossom. Oh my goodness, are you going to introduce me to him or what? Who is he?" Princess swooned next to Blossom, causing her to finally turn away from Brick, who had slowly begun to descend the stairs toward the two girls.

"Ah, right, well, Princess this is Brick Jojo, the oldest of the Jojo triplets, and a… friend from my childhood. Brick, this is Princess, the daughter of my father's patron." Blossom mumbled as Brick reached the bottom of the stairs.

"and I must say: it is _very_ nice to meet you indeed." Princess batted her eyelashes and she scanned the tall male in front of her. Brick cringed slightly under her assessment, but nodded his head politely to her.

"Brick Jojo. The Duke or Baron of Townsville, whichever works better for you." He rumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. Princess frowned at the action, before smiling flirty at him.

"So you're a duke hrm? Funny you mention that, I happen to be a duchess…"

Brick opened his mouth to reply, before Mojo's voice cut across him. "Very good then. Brick, I'll leave you too it, make sure that Butch and Boomer greet them as well, I can't have them sleep in all day."

Brick rolled his eyes. "They're getting up now. They should be decent in a few moments." He informed his father, getting a nod from the shorter man.

"Excellent. John, if you will follow me?"

John nodded before turning to Blossom. "This will probably take a bit; we have to go over the most recent attack; if I'm down in the lab for more than a few hours, call the carriage and have it take you and Princess home. I told her father I would have her back in time for dinner."

"In the meantime, Brick can show Miss. Morebucks around the mansion." Mojo added, as he began to walk off in the direction of the basement with John in tow, "He'll be able to keep them entertained in the meantime."

"Well, if you need me, call me." John sighed to Blossom as he was led away by Mojo, leaving the three young adults alone in the foyer.

Brick turned his scorching irises back to Blossom as he cracked the smallest of smiles at her. "Sorry that we had to cancel our visit before Christmas, Butch, Boomer and I all fell… ill. We didn't want you to catch anything."

Blossom shook her head, as she rubbed her shoulder. "It's not a problem, are you feeling better now?" Brick's eyes flickered to her covered shoulder and Blossom swore that she saw his pupils dilate slightly as a strange look swept over his handsome features.

"Oh yes, I'm fine. I'm better then fine actually." He whispered, his eyes glued to her shoulder as he wet his lips.

"Ahem."

A tiny cough interrupted Brick's focus as he turned toward the new girl, slightly irritated by the interruption.

"Yes?"

"I do hate to 'interrupt', but who are Butch and Boomer?" Princess asked in a falsely sweet tone – still swooning over the handsome man before her.

"My younger brothers. You may meet them later, provided that they can actually get themselves out of bed-"

As if on cue, a door slammed open upstairs, rattling the second floor of the mansion. Heavy footsteps were heard stomping down the hallway; followed by muffled cursing, before a ragged looking Butch appeared at the top of the staircase, running a hand though his wild black hair.

"'Morning." The barrel chested male grumbled down to his brother and house guests as he stifled a yawn.

"It's afternoon dumbass."

Butch scowled as he stretched his arms, an audible _pop_ coming from his back. "Whatever Brick." He grumbled as he glared down at the new arrivals. His eyes landed on Princess and a confused look passed over his face.

"Who the hell are you?"

Princess, who had been close to drooling at the sight of the dark haired man, straightened as she realized the course words coming out of his mouth were directed to her. An insulted look came over her face as she huffed,

"I'm Princess Morebuck, daughter of Kingston Morebucks, Duchess of-"

"That's nice." Butch grumbled carelessly, interrupting Princess's sepal, much to her outrage. He blearily looked down at the three young adults again, his eyes brightening as they landed on Blossom.

"Hey Bloss! Your here! Does that mean- Is she- Is Butterbabe with you?" He asked excitedly as his eyes flicked around the area beside the long haired girl.

"Butterbabe?!" Princess squawked furiously. Blossom cocked an eyebrow at the strange name before her eyes widened.

"You mean Buttercup?" she called up to the forest eyed man, causing him to nod ecstatically. She shook her head.

"She came down with a bit of a cough this morning so she stayed behind. Bubbles is looking after her right now."

"Too bad, I was really hoping that Bubbles would be coming." Another voice echoed from behind Butch's massive frame.

Butch moved over slightly to revel Boomer; golden hair slightly disheveled, indicating that he too had only recently woken up. He ran a hand though the mussed locks before nodding down to Blossom and Princess.

"Always nice to see you Blossom; Princess, it's nice to meet you. I'm Boomer."

"You know my name?" Princess asked confused by the blonde man. Boomer nodded. "I heard you yelling it up to Butch." He slapped a hand on his taller brother's shoulder, "Woke me right up." He added with a sly grin, causing Princess to flush a brilliant shade of red.

Butch let out a whine. "Aw damn, my woman is sick – I should go pay her a visit!" his dark green eyes lit up at the idea, casing Brick and Boomer to stiffen.

"Probably not a good idea Butch, it's still too soon after the worst of our… _condition_. You still could be… _contagious_. If you went to see her now you know what would happen…"

Boomer trailed off, his cobalt blue eyes flashing sternly at his older brother. Another whine escaped Butch's throat as he understood what his younger brother was implicating.

It was too soon after the previous full moon and his more… animalistic instincts were still ramped up. If he went to see the girl of his affections during his current state of mind – what little control that he possessed would fly completely out the window.

No, any future visits with the stunning lime eyed girl would have to be put on hold until he was calmer, as both he and his brothers knew that control – was something that he lacked.

"I know." He growled sourly, as he clenched his fists. "I want to see her though. I need to make sure she's alright." He muttered the last part. Boomer patted his shoulder. "You will; you promised to take her riding didn't you? You'll see her then." He promised quietly.

Butch sighed, turning to glare back down at the young adults on the ground level.

"Don't break anything."

"Butch, be nice." Brick sighed as he rubbed at his temples.

"Screw you."

"Christ you're the farthest thing from a morning person aren't you?"

"You state the obvious."

"Go back to bed."

"Planning on it."

Butch grinned sickly as he sent a mock salute at his fire haired brother, before pushing past Boomer, making his way back down the hallway and slamming his door shut again, causing the upper floor to rattle again from the force.

Boomer stretched tiredly and rubbed a hand down his face. "I think I'm actually going to do the same. I didn't get much sleep last night. If you need me, you know where to find me."

"You can't be serious, you just got up." Brick growled, causing Boomer to shrug.

"I know, but I had a pretty poor sleep last night, and bed sounds really good to me right now." He admitted. "If you need help with the girls just call me, I'm sure you're more than capable of entertaining them for a few hours." He winked as he sent them a wave.

"Nice seeing you all. Princess, try to be a little quieter."

He sent the curly haired girl a shit-eating grin as we moved – with a limp, Blossom noticed – out of sight – away from Princess's enraged scream.

"WHAT?! SOME GENTALMEN YOU ARE! HOW DARE YOU!" She screeched angrily after the tall blonde man. A faint laugh reached Blossom's ears as the sound of a door closing echoed gently though the upstairs.

Princess whirled around to face Brick. "Those were your brothers?" She demanded. Brick nodded.

"They don't have the best manners. Don't mind them."

She snorted. "I'll say." She growled, before she forced her face back into a smile as she batted her eyelashes at him once again.

"Well now, why don't you show me around this gorgeous house?" Brick glanced at Blossom out of the corner of his eye; silently asking her if the girl in front of him was serious, causing Blossom to shrug in response.

Brick sighed. "Alright, follow me then." He gestured toward a nearby archway as he steered both girls toward it.

As Blossom was passing him, Brick gently put his large, warm hand on the small of her back, letting it rest there for a moment. She turned to send him a questioning look – only to see his bloody irises were fixated on her damaged shoulder – almost as if he could see the wrappings underneath.

She flinched, causing him to look up to meet her rose coloured orbs. It was then Blossom noticed that his eyes were completely dilated, as she found herself staring into hypnotising black pools. A slow smirk spread across his handsome features as he gently pushed her ahead of him.

"Come on Bloss. Let's not keep your 'friend' waiting. Something tells me she doesn't have much patience at all."

* * *

Blossom fell behind Brick and Princess as they entered the mansions dusty ballroom. Blossom stared in wonder at the elaborate room – trying to imagine what it must have looked like when it was used to host formal events.

Brick and Princess were making polite small talk ahead of her, though Princess herself was doing most of the talking, Brick was merely listening; keeping a close eye on the rose orbed female behind him.

Currently Princess was praising the posh interior of the estate and simultaneously flirting with Brick, all the while shooting nasty little grins over her shoulder at Blossom who was pointed ignoring her.

 ***** "Oh my goodness master Brick your home is simply "awe" inspiring- I do envy the young woman who will be mistress of it someday."

"Indeed."

"And what goes into the making of the future Lady Jojo hmm?"

"My bride will be the epitome of charm, intelligence, sophistication, grace and of course be a woman of extraordinary beauty."

"Oh my goodness... and have you... any idea where you'll find such a treasure?"

"I already have Miss Morebucks."

"Oh 'have' you indeed? Could she perhaps be nearby maybe even In this very room?"

"Indeed."

"Oh really now...?"

"Yes I do believe she is."

" Oh why Master Jojo-."

"She's right behind you." *****

Blossom froze in her tracks upon hearing Brick's words. Slowly she lifted her head to stare dumbly at him, her mouth agape as her jaw went slack from shock.

"…Begging your pardon?" She managed to get out, despite hearing full well what he had said. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Princess looking between the red pair in shock as she tried to understand Brick's implication.

"I'm sorry, _**WHAT?**_ " She nearly screeched as she came to the realization that he was talking about Blossom. "I thought you said that you didn't have anything with him!"

"We don't!" Blossom gasped as she frantically searched Brick's face to see if he was joking. To her stupefied amazement she found no such indication.

 _Oh my goodness he's serious._ She thought as her mind reeled from shock. _Why would he say something like that? What is he thinking?_

"That was before." Brick cut in smoothly, striding over to Blossom and gently taking her hand in his larger one. "In Townsville, most ladies are courted off due to the town's small population. You were merely visiting with your family when you first arrived here, but since your Grandfather's death, you've had to take care of the estate – making you residences of Townsville." He explained, not taking his scorching irises off her light pink ones.

"And making you fair game." He finished with a low growl, gripping her hand tighter – a possessive edge appearing in his eyes. Blossom shuddered as she tried to free her hand from his bruising grip. She didn't necessarily like where this was going.

"I-I don't understand!" She muttered as she tried to pull her hand free. "You've only just seen me after such a long time apart. Why are you asking me this?" She asked; confusion evident on her face.

"Because you were promised to me."

Blossom stopped struggling to stare at Brick in utter confusion. Brick on the other hand clenched his jaw, obviously not meaning to say what he head said. "…What…" Blossom whispered as she struggled to find words to respond to his quiet statement.

"Nothing." Brick growled. "That came out wrong. But I _would_ like to be with you." He said firmly. Blossom shook her head slowly. "My father doesn't want me to court anyone from Townsville. He won't approve of this."

"Just consider it." Brick grinned. "It's your life, not his, and technically he can't say anything about me courting you. After all, I _am_ a lord. I've got as much right as anyone else. Besides, you know me; I'm a better match for you then some pathetic little worm that you've never met before."

Blossom paused. He had a point. And she was at the age where a suitor should have been chosen, but still…

"Can… Can I think about it?" She asked gently as she turned her face away from him so he wouldn't see the bright red blush spilling across her cheeks. "This is… very sudden. I need some time to think about…. This." She finished lamely. Brick gave her a wolfish grin.

"Of course. Keep it to yourself for now. You'll come around, I know you will." He grinned, showcasing his white teeth. Blossom felt herself cringe at the sight for some reason as she shoulder began to throb painfully.

She began to rub it gently as she winced lightly in pain. Her actions didn't go unnoticed by Brick and Blossom noticed that his eyes had begun to dilate again, turning his eyes into bottomless black pools.

"Hello?" Princess snapped at the two red head's irritably. "Congratulations on your… Marriage proposal… or whatever this is exactly, but are we going to continue with this tour?" she growled, giving Blossom a sinister glare.

Irritation flashed across Brick's handsome face as he tore his crimson eyes away from Blossom's shoulder to glare at Princess, before his face relaxed into a small smirk. "Yes we are." He replied smoothly as he beckoned her over to a set of double doors on the other side of the ballroom. "Straight ahead there's a lounge, we can talk there."

Princess let out an angry huff as she matched towards the doors – throwing them open with a bang before storming out, muttering about "how all of the good looking ones were taken." Blossom was just about to follow her out when a hand grasped onto her uninjured shoulder – pulling her into a dark room of to the side of the ballroom.

"What are you doing?" Blossom hissed as Brick locked the door behind them before stalking over to her, his bright red eyes glowing slightly against the dark surroundings. Again Blossom was almost hypnotized by the deep crimson eyes. _She_ had _seen them somewhere else before, she just couldn't place where…_

"What's wrong with your shoulder?" Brick growled at her gently as he crossed his arms, jutting his chin out at her concealed shoulder.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Blossom panicked as she backed away from the powerful male slowly, allowing him to advance toward her until he had her pressed up against the opposite wall.

"Blossom, let me see." He demanded, keeping his voice level. She shook her head furiously in protest. Brick sighed at her refusal. Before Blossom could push past him, He slammed his hand down on the wall behind her, trapping her in place as the other hand swiftly tugged the dark fabric of her dress down, exposing her bandaged shoulder. Blossom gasped in horror as she tried to pull the material back up while Brick simply stared.

 _It was true. He did bite her. It was real. His mark was fresh on her skin – permeant and final._

 _And his._

"What is this?" he rumbled gently, playing the confused fool as he gently touched her bitten shoulder. Blossom flinched and pulled away from his touch. "Please Brick, don't say anything about this… my sisters and I will be in a lot of trouble if you do." She begged him softly.

"It's alright Blossom, tell me what happened. You can trust me. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to." He said comfortingly. Placing his free hand under her chin, he gently forced her head up to meet his intense gaze. "You can trust me." He promised. Blossom shivered under his hold as she tugged the material of her dress back up, concealing her bitten shoulder from him as she began her story.

"Last night… my sisters and I… we went out into the woods." She whispered quietly. "What were you doing out there?" Brick growled. "They're not dangerous, especially during a full moon. I believe I remember telling you not to go in there." He rumbled.

"Buttercup wanted to find out what had terrified our father." Blossom responded, her pupils beginning to shrink into pin-pricks as she recounted her night. "She was going to go alone... I couldn't let her do that… so we all went out into the woods… We didn't see anything at first but then… we heard some of the hunters screaming… they were being chased by something. Something _big."_

Blossom shuddered as she continued. "We tried to go back, but we got lost. Then we heard a growl and Buttercup went to see what it was… all of the sudden…" Blossom began to shake violently, causing Brick to gently place his hands on her shoulders to try and calm her as she continued the story. She met his eyes then and Brick was struck with the amount of terror that he saw in them.

"Brick… I saw it. We saw it… the thing that murdered our Uncle and killed a lot of the townsfolk… It was massive… it was the biggest thing that I have ever seen in my life. It was like a wolf but it was as big as a bear! I've never seen a creature like it before!" Blossom whispered; her eyes wide and horrified.

"It went after Buttercup, I tried to get Bubbles out but… Brick, there wasn't one. There were _three_! Three of those things! I suppose that after they killed the rest of those poor hunters they came back for us… I told Bubbles to run, but the second thing ran after her and left me alone with the final… thing! It pinned me down Brick, I couldn't move; then it _bit me_!" Blossom choked out.

"It bit me, and I've never been in so much pain before." She admitted softly. "I blacked out afterwards and apparently Buttercup and Bubbles found me soon after that. They carried me back to the manor and that's when I woke up." She finished sadly. "Somehow they managed to get away as well; though Bubbles was bit on the arm."

Brick's eyes widened slightly at the titbit of information. He made a mental note to tell Boomer later. Apparently he had been right all along.

He let a small, feral grin creep across his face as the memories from last night came flooding back to him.

 _The girl pinned underneath him._

 _The agonized scream she let out as he dove forward._

 _Her sweet blood, welling up into his mouth from in-between his canines._

 _ **MINE.**_

"I still can't get over the fact that those things let us go." Blossom murmured, snapping Brick out of his thoughts. "Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to be alive, but I watched the one that bit me rip apart one of the hunters with ease. So I don't understand why they just let us go."

"Maybe they like females." Brick found himself muttering. Blossom sighed as she ran a hand though her long red mane. "I don't know. Maybe." She shrugged, looking back up at Brick.

"Please don't tell anyone this. If my father finds out…"

"You'll be in serious trouble, don't worry Pinky, I got it." Brick reassured her calmly. "I won't tell anyone, but you need to stay away from those woods. You got… very, very lucky compared to those hunters, whom I assume didn't make it out."

Blossom shook her head. "I think they got all of them… God I hope not though, one of our old friends from out childhood was out there with them… he was the one who the town called in to help with… the beasts. I hope that he somehow made it out."

Brick frowned. "Who was it?"

"Do you know a boy named Mitch Michelson?"

Brick stopped cold at the name as his healing shoulder began to sing with sudden pain, his eyes narrowed at the odd sensation as he moved it lightly.

"Yes I do. My brothers and I knew of him when we were children. He left town not to long after you and your sisters did actually. I was surprised to hear he had returned."

"It's just that… he was one of the hunters who went out last night to try and trap the beasts. We haven't heard anything from him since. I'm so worried about him…" Blossom trailed off uncertain.

Brick gently closed his eyes as he tried to remember more of last night's events. If he concentrated, he could just remember wresting with one hunter in particular.

 _Familiar dark brown eyes were narrowed in hate as the young man screamed – whipping out a wicked looking hunting knife; he stabbed down into his previously injured shoulder, causing him to roar with pain. Yanking out the hunting knife, he picked the young man up before smashing his head against the snow-covered earth below…_

Brick hummed. He had no way of knowing if that man was Mitch or not, but the familiar brown eyes had stuck with him, and he had a sinking suspicion that it had been none other than Mitch Michelson that had stabbed him.

If that was the case, he wasn't all that sure if Mitch was even still alive after what the wolf did…

"I'm… sure that he'll turn up." He grinned weakly. "No news is good news right?"

Blossom opened her mouth to reply, when a sudden shriek from outside the room cut across her.

" _Hey! Blossom, Lord Brick? Where did you take off to? It's rude to leave a lady on her own!"_

Brick rolled his eyes and muttered something about her "being the farthest thing from a lady that he's ever met." Making Blossom giggle slightly as the pair made their way towards the door. Brick turned to give her a small wink as he placed his hand on the doorknob – stopping when Blossom placed her own on it.

"Remember Brick, please don't tell anyone." She muttered sullenly. Brick only nodded.

"Don't you worry Pinky. I have no intentions of telling anyone. We'll keep the between you and me. It'll be our little secret." He gave her a small grin as he opened the door to an irate looking Princess.

"Sorry about that." He told the curly haired girl with a wolfish grin. "I just had to get away from your screeching for a bit."

"Why of all the lousy, good-for-nothing, rude, arrogant, pompous lords…" Princess seethed as she stomped though the mansion with Blossom hot on her heels – Bricks loud laughter echoing behind them.

* * *

"Please Princess, calm down. I'm fairly certain that he was just poking fun… at least I think…" Blossom muttered as she increased her pace to keep up with the infuriated girl who turned to snarl at her.

"I have _never_ been more insulted by a supposed "gentleman" in all my life! Who does he think he is?!" she screeched. "Brick is just very blunt with people, same with his brothers-" Blossom tried to cover for the ruby eyed man who was following a few feet behind them – a cocky grin plastered on his face, only to get interrupted by Princess again.

"Oh and his brothers! Don't even get me started on them! They were by far the rudest men I've met thus far! To hell with their looks! They don't know who they've just insulted!..."

Blossom tuned out the curly haired woman's outraged cries as she shot a withering look at Brick, who in turn smirked devilishly at her. He strode past the two females in his charge as they entered the foyer of the mansion. He smiled innocently at Princess. "I'm guessing that you would like to leave now?"

" _Yes."_ Princess hissed, steam beginning to rise off of her flushed skin. "Just wait until my father hears about this…" she threatened sinisterly. Brick snorted as he rolled his eyes at the comment, before redirecting his attention back to Blossom.

"I'll go see what your father is up to. Wait here for me." He called over his shoulder as he moved over to one of the side doors that lead to the basement, opening it and letting some of the stale air out, before stepping into the darkness and shutting the door firmly behind him.

As soon as the door shut, Princess glared angrily at Blossom. "So. You and him then. You said that you weren't involved with him." She accused the rose eyed girl.

"I wasn't!" Blossom protested. "Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you are." She looked at Princess pleadingly. "Please don't mention this to my father… If he found out that Brick asked I think he would lose his mind. I want to break the news to him gently…"

Princess let out an ugly snort as she ran a hand though her curly hair. "Oh don't you worry Blossom dear. I'm not going to say _anything_ about this disaster of a visit. Those boys are going to regret insulting me. I'll make sure of it even if it's the last thing I do!" She growled quietly.

Blossom sighed as she turned back towards the basement door – silently hoping that Brick would reappear with her father soon, so she wouldn't have to listen to Princess's enraged ramblings anymore.

* * *

"I heard about the latest attack last night in the woods. None of the hunters made it out apparently… What a tragedy."

Mojo stated casually as he flicked though another victim's file. John cringed as he placed his own file down onto the lab table that he and Mojo were sitting at.

"Is that what people are saying?" He asked quietly. "Are you sure?"

"I was told that a search team went into the woods early this morning when none of the hunters came out. Apparently they were greeted to quite the grisly scene. They have been finding the hunters, but so far none have turned up alive." Mojo replied calmly as he picked up another file.

John cringed. "I don't believe it… they were so confident that they were going to catch whatever these things are. It was a group of twelve well-armed, trained hunters… I guess it doesn't matter now though." He muttered. Mojo shook his head.

"It would not matter. If these creatures are as intelligent as we think they are, they could easily out-wit a group of men. You know first-hand what their capable of."

John nodded slowly. "It's just that… a boy that my daughters knew from their childhoods was out leading the hunters. The town called him in hoping that he could help with the situation… I truly hope that he made it out. My girls would be devastated if anything happened to him."

"Well perhaps he somehow made it out." Mojo muttered carelessly as he set his file down. Glancing around his basement laboratory he sighed gently.

"I don't think we are going to get as much done as we had hoped John. It's too soon after the attack. We'll have to wait until the police release the victim's files for us to look at. What would be even better is if we could go to the morgue and inspect the bodies closer to look clues."

John nodded with a sigh as he placed his current file down on to the examination table. Looking around the dimly lit lab, he stood up and went over to the far wall where the strange markings he had seen last time where. Tracking the strange symbols he turned back to Mojo.

"You never did tell me what these were used for." He stated, causing the short man to turn in his direction. The smaller man frowned as he noticed John touching the marking on the wall.

"Yes I did. I told you I was studying them." He responded, not taking his eyes off the professor. "It has to be more than that." John murmured, "You've drawn them all over the walls. Some of them I recognize as Pagan." He narrowed his eyes at the small man who was watching him intently.

"You better not be trying any more of your… experiments." He warned. "I though you learned from when we used to do them as young men – they never worked and they had… disastrous consequences."

Mojo stiffened but relaxed after a moment as he put his hands up in front of him. "John, John. Calm yourself. I learned from those days. I don't perform those types of experiments anymore, I'm strictly by the book now." He promised with a tiny smile.

"Really, I'm just studying them. I find the Pagan lore fascinating." He finished as he laced his hands in front of him, placing them on his lap.

John nodded as he stepped away from the symbols. "Good. The last thing we need right now is a repeat of some of those disasters."

Allowing his dark eyes to wander over the dim basement, he allowed a memory to take him back to when he and Mojo had first worked together.

" _Increasing the pressure by 5.6%..."_

" _Mojo we've already pushed the machine higher than it should go! It won't be able to handle the electrical current…"_

" _Come now John, we are almost there! Think about it: you and I will be the first scientists to discover the other-"_

" _It's not safe anymore! The machine looks like it's about to blow! Shut it off!"_

" _No! Just a little more – we are almost there!"_

" _I- MOJO LOOK OUT!"_

 _The box where the electrical current was coming out from couldn't take the intense pressure anymore and combusted – sending electrical pulses and pieces of shrapnel flying though the musty air._

 _A bright white light filled the basement space – blinding a much younger John, as he fell backwards and hit his head on the corner of one of the examination tables._

 _The last thing he remembered before he closed his eyes was a dark, other-worldly laughter and red quickly filling the basement… a dark, horrifying red cloud of red smoke…_

"Hey dad. Are you and Professor Utonium doing anything important right now?"

John snapped back to the present as Brick's baritone voice echoed around the dark basement walls. Turning towards the stairs, he saw the eldest Jojo brother standing atop of them.

"No actually. We are not getting as far as we would have liked. It's too soon after the most recent attack. What is the matter Brick?" Mojo responded gruffly.

"I may have pissed our new house-guest off and now she wants to leave immediately." Brick sniffled a chuckle at the look of confusion on John's face.

"Dear god boy, what have you done this time?" Mojo sighed as he slid off the chair he was sitting on. "Nothing really, she can't take a joke apparently." Brick smirked, causing Mojo to sigh.

Turning to John he gave him a weary look. "John, if you would like to leave it is completely your choice. I do not think there is much we can do here anyways. I can contact the police to see if they can send over the hunter's records, but until then, there is not much to do here right now."

John stifled a sigh before nodding his agreement. "Very well. I suppose you're right. If you don't need me I'll be heading back to the manor." He turned to head up the stairs. "My daughter is up there correct?" Brick nodded.

Letting out another sigh John climbed the basement steps to see his eldest and his patrons daughter waiting for him – Blossom looking thoroughly embarrassed and Princess simply fuming.

"What happened?" He asked confused. Blossom opened her mouth to reply only to be cut off by Princess. "This man and his brothers insulted me!" she growled, pointing over his shoulder at Brick. "I have never felt so disrespected in all of my life and I wish to leave professor!" she snapped furiously.

John groaned as he fought the urge to rub his temples. No doubt the Kingston was going to hear about this little exchange from her – ultimately getting him into trouble.

"Very well then." He responded calmly. "Mojo and I weren't getting anywhere anyways." He smiled gently at Blossom. "Do you have your coat dear?" He asked as she nodded at him. Turning back to Mojo he sighed.

"I'm sorry we weren't as productive as we thought were going to be. Call for me once the police get back to you, and I'll send for you if I discover anything interesting." He promised. "Sounds excellent." The short man nodded. "I will see you soon I'm sure."

"Yes… I suppose so." John muttered as he moved towards the front door. Yanking it open, he allowed Princess to leave first. "We'll drop you off back at home first Miss. Morebucks." He told her as she brushed past him and down to the awaiting carriage.

Glancing back at Blossom, his heart froze when he saw Brick give her the smallest kiss on the cheek as she turned to leave, causing her to flush a bright crimson as she shot him am almost bashful look before turning and quickly following after Princess.

Brick made eye contact with the stunned professor as he shot him a sadistic wink.

"See you around professor." He grinned darkly. John weakly nodded at the crimson eyed male as a sudden chill ran down his spine. Quickly stepping outside the mansion, he slammed the door firmly behind him.

* * *

Brick stood on the mansion's balcony as he watched the carriage drive off the property – a low rumble building deep in his throat as he watched the carriage take his prize farther away from him.

Movement out of the corner of his eye alerted him to Butch and Boomer's presence as they filed out onto the balcony to stand on either of his sides. Butch casually leaned against the solid stone railing as he placed his head in one of his hands, stifling a yawn.

"So, find out anything interesting?" He asked broadly as he cast a look at Brick from the side. Brick managed a sick grin, not taking his eyes off of the carriage which was slowly sinking into the horizon. "That I did." He responded curtly.

"Turns out you were right all along Boomer." He stated nonchalantly. "They _were_ in the forest last night. The girls we saw where them."

"I knew it." Boomer sighed softly as he ran a hand through his golden waves. "I… I bit Bubbles didn't I?"

"More than likely." Brick muttered. "Because I mangled Blossom's shoulder. I saw her arm – it's completely bandaged. She now carries my mark and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bubbles has a similar mark somewhere."

Butch snorted. "It's about damn time. Welcome to the club." He snickered as he slapped Brick on the back.

Brick winced as Butch hit his still tender shoulder. "I also asked her if she would marry me." He muttered as he averted his gaze from his brothers. Two sets of eyes landed on him as they stared at him incredulously.

"Really now…?" Boomer asked.

"… And you gave me shit for asking Buttercup if she was available." Butch grumbled as Brick glared at him "That was before. It's different now." He replied levelly.

"We've staked a claim. They belong to us now, they always have, but now it's official. They _will_ be with us one way or another." Brick snarled harshly as he gripped the stone railing, feeling it start to splinter underneath his crushing grip.

"Their dad doesn't seem to think so." Butch pointed out as Brick let out a nasty chuckle.

"Oh, he'll change his mind. Of that, I can assure you. But we'll worry about him later, right now this hunter is more of a threat." He nodded at Boomer's leg. "How are you feeling?"

Boomer shrugged as he tested his leg. "It's starting to close over now. I still can't explain why it looks like I was burned though."

"I have a feeling that our old friend Mitch Michelson knows." Brick growled lowly. "I know he was in the woods last night, and I have a feeling that he's responsible for my shoulder as well."

"Provided he's still alive." Butch snickered. "Based on what I can remember, I don't think any of the hunters made it out last night."

"I suppose we'll have to see then." Brick responded coolly. "We'll know if he made it out soon enough. And if it turns out that he did…" He cast a sinister look at his brothers, his eyes glowing an insidious red.

"I think it'll be time to pay a visit to the boy from the village."

* * *

 **Bellum Manor**

"Perfect timing darlings! Lunch has just been put out!"

Sara beamed as she ushered her husband and eldest daughter into the manor, shutting the door behind them. Blossom shrugged off her coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door as she unlaced her boots.

"How's Buttercup?" she asked. "She's much better now. It was just a passing cough thank goodness, her throat is a little raw but Bubbles has been taking good care of her." Her mother responded. "They're already in the dining room with Grandma waiting for you."

"Welcome back Blossom, how was the visit to the estate?" A light voice asked. Sara turned around to see both of her daughters standing in the hallway leading to the dining room. "Well I suppose not." She chuckled gently as she moved past her triplets to take John's hand in her own. "We'll be in the dining room, join us when you're ready."

Blossom looked up at her younger sisters. Both had dark bags under their eyes and Blossom inwardly knew that she had similar dark circles under her eyes as well. When she didn't respond to Bubbles's question regarding the visit to the estate, Buttercup let out a cough.

"How was the trip?" she rasped. Blossom sighed as she put her boots away, knowing that she would have to tell them about the situation with Brick.

Blossom reached out to touch Bubbles and Buttercup's hands lightly. "When the both of you have got a moment, I need to tell the two of you something." She whispered. Buttercup nodded as she let out another small cough before she was steered away by Bubbles.

"After lunch." The blonde whispered gently to the lovely red head as she passed, "We'll talk then." She promised as she reached out to take her hand in her free one, leading both of her sisters toward the dining room.

"Did you and Mojo discover anything about the attacks John?" Sara asked her husband gently as the rest of the family took their seats at the table. John shook his head.

"No, they only happened last night; it's still far too early to do anything about them. We have to wait until the morgue gives us the deceased's files or gives us access to the bodies so we can go over them. We more or less reviewed the evidence from the last full moon to see if we could find a clue as to what these things are."

"Did you discover anything useful?" Sara prodded. "Nothing new that could tell us what they are." John replied as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "All we know for certain at this point is that whatever this thing is; it's not normal in the slightest."

Blossom Bubbles and Buttercup shared a hidden look with each other at their father's ominous words.

 _Oh papa, you have no idea._ Blossom thought as she remembered the rows and rows of wickedly sharp teeth lining the beast's massive jaws as it went for her neck…

"Did you hear anything about the hunters?" Buttercup asked hoarsely. "I know Mitch was out there with them. I want to know if he's alright."

John froze at the mention of the brown haired boy's name. "I have, but what I'm hearing isn't good." He informed his daughter truthfully. "A search team went out into the forest early this morning and apparently they have been finding the bodies of the hunters everywhere throughout the forest. I haven't heard anything on Mitch specifically though."

A thick, tense silence fell over the family table.

"…I received a letter back from my cousin." Sara announced after several long minutes, breaking the tension. "She wrote back to me, saying that she would come and relive the manor from us. That means that we'll be able to leave Townsville."

"Fabulous." John managed a small smile. "Did she say when?" Sara coughed quietly as she took a small sip of her tea. "That's the problem. Since January is right around the corner, the roads are very treacherous. Getting from Megaville to here would take a very long time. Even if she left right now, she wouldn't make it here until sometime in late April, after the girl's birthdays."

John dropped his coffee cup as he struggled to keep the substance in his mouth. After a few muffled choking sounds, he managed to swallow the burning liquid as he fought the urge to tear out his salt and pepper hair.

"That's almost five months!" He squeaked. "Can't Felicity get here any sooner than that?" The mention of the familiar name caused Bubbles to furrow her eyebrows.

"Felicity… I know that name. Grandma keeps calling me that!" She looked over sadly at the older snowy haired woman who sat in silence – unresponsive to her family. "I don't know why… She's your cousin?" She asked her voluptuous mother. Sara nodded gently.

"Grandma – isn't quite here in the present right now." She admitted gently. "I can see why she would call you Felicity though: you have the same blond hair and blue eyes like she does. In fact, we used to live here together during our childhood before she and my Aunt moved to Megaville." She informed her youngest with a sad smile. "Yes, your Grandmother loved Felicity Fatale. She was like a second daughter to her, she was very sad when she left."

"Oh." Bubbles murmured. "I see. We never met her did we?"

"No. when she went to Megaville with my Aunt, they both cut themselves off from the rest of the family, and have been generally unreachable since then." Sara sighed. "Only reason why she's coming back here is because she'll get the manor, I just know it." She trailed off, muttering darkly under her breath.

 _ **KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.**_

Sara was cut off by the sound of loud pounding on the front door. Frowning, she peered over her shoulder toward the door in confusion.

"Strange, who could that be?" she asked as she moved to get up.

"I'll get it." Bubbles interrupted as she stood up. "Buttercup, Blossom? Do you want to come with me?" Wordlessly, Buttercup rose to her feet and made her way down the hallway to the doors, Blossom and Bubbles following close behind her.

John looked after his daughters. All three of them had been a little off since the early morning. They were slight changes, but they were enough for him to take notice off. He shrugged as he reached for his neglected coffee cup. Maybe they were just tired – they looked as if they hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. But to be fair, neither had he.

Those bone-chilling howls had kept him up all night – terrifying him even more since he had seen what they came from

He heard the front door opening and his daughters greeting someone. He was just about to take a sip of his still warm coffee when a scram echoed down the hallway and into the dining room, causing him to drop his cup and sprint for the door, his wife hot on his heels.

" _Oh my god what happened to your face?!"_

He heard Buttercup scream, her voice shrill with panic as he heard a deeper voice try and console her. _"Calm down Butters, it looks worse than it actually is."_

Turning the corner and bolting into the foyer, he stopped dead and the colour drained from his face as his eyes landed on the person standing in the doorway.

There at the door, stood a ragged looking Mitch.

His face was a mess of red lines that streaked down to his neck. The exposed parts of his arms and legs revealed that the rest of him wasn't in any better condition. Large, dark splotchy bruises covered his arms, and John noticed that he had a good sized one starting to form on his cheek as well.

The worst injury however, had to be his left eye.

Four bloody gashes had been slashed down around his eye, which was unnaturally red, and was quickly swelling shut the longer the younger man stood there. The skin around his eye was almost completely destroyed, and his eyebrow was missing chunks from where the gashes had torn though.

The young man completely ignored the three girls in front of him and instead focused on John.

His clouded brown eyes met with John's black ones and he nodded at him solemnly.

"Professor…" He started, and John couldn't help but flinch at the dead tone his voice had taken on.

"You and me need to have a little talk."

* * *

 **?**

The walls of the cave glowed a sinister red as they danced off of the black surface like fire-light. Faint screams seemed to bounce off the cave walls as a light humming sound was heard coming from the center of the room.

A hellish-looking creature with red skin, acid green eyes and massive lobster claws sat in the middle of the room, seated comfortably in a plush looking armchair, watching a large mirror that floated in front of it.

The flat surface of the mirror rippled like glass as it showed him the Jojo estate before changing to show him a young man with blood red eyes, talking to a beautiful girl with long chestnut hair and a bandaged shoulder.

The red skinned creature let out an amused chuckle as he stroked his goatee, leaning back in his cushioned armchair.

" **Well, this is an interesting development. Very interesting indeed."**

He chuckled to himself sadistically as he watched his favourite pawn talk with the young girl with the pink eyes in his mirror. She had been a child the last time he had seen her. Now she was very much a young woman.

" **It's about time you made your way back into the picture young lady. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this?"** He laughed airily as he watched the girl try and cover up the fresh bite mark on her shoulder again.

" **Oh yes, things are about to get interesting. Oh what a glorious performance this is turning out to be!"**

The mirror changed scenes before him; now showcasing the hunter who had tried to kill his favourite creations – at the house of the aging professor, causing the dark entity to grin sadistically.

The demon clicked his claws excitedly as he early watched the two figures in the mirror. **"Now the** _ **real**_ **fun is about to begin."**

"Master?"

The man turned slightly in the direction of the soft voice, and gave the newcomer a smile that would give even the most hardened of criminal's nightmares.

" **Ah dearest.** _ **Do**_ **come in. I've been expecting you."** He beckoned the owner of the soft voice forward with a wave of his massive claw, drawing her out of the shadows behind them.

The slim figure stepped out to the shadows and walked towards him slowly, revealing a middle-aged female with long, wild hair that was as black as the night sky and pale green eyes the colour of sage, surrounded by light freckles – contrasting beautifully against her pale, almost snow-like skin.

The creature grinned at the sight of his favorite vassal as he beckoned her to look into the mirror. **"Look my dear, is this not interesting? Finally our boys will have a decent challenge."**

"Those _things_ aren't my boys." The pale female muttered as she twitched violently – her pupils shrinking into pin-pricks as a wave of madness overtook her momentarily. The creature watched her; amused, as she settled back down after a moment.

" **Oh but they** _ **are.**_ **They're yours just as much as they are mine."** The creature grinned sickly. **"You might be terrified of them but at the end of the day, they are your** _ **sons."**_

The word hung in the warm air for a moment before the demon placed a massive claw around her shoulders, drawing her close to him.

" **I'll be curious to see how they handle the professor and this little hunter."** The demon mused. **"They won't be so easy to get rid of. But they did bring those precious girls back into the picture."**

"Leave them alone." The dark haired woman muttered. "They don't know… they're innocent."

" **Too late for that now. The boys marked them last night during their change."** The demon chipped happily as the woman's eyes widened in horror.

" **That's where** _ **you**_ **come in my dear."**

The woman wearily turned to eye the demon. "Leave me out of this." She whispered. "I want no part of this. I don't want to be anywhere near Mojo or those monsters."

" **Oh don't you worry your pretty little head. There won't be a family reunion just yet."** The demon smirked. **I have another job for you."** The woman stayed silent, waiting for her master's order.

" **You see this cretin?"** The demon asked, tapping the mirror. The surface rippled before changing to show a pale, lanky man with greasy black hair that hung limply to his shoulders.

" **He has been assigned to watch over the girls and their father… I don't trust him. He has other intentions and we can't have any loose ends, isn't that right my dear?"** He asked as he stroked a claw down the side of her face. The woman shook her head docilely, refusing to meet his rotten green eyes, causing the demon to smirk sadistically at her submission.

" **That's why I'm assigning you to watch those girls and report back to me. They're important to the boys, and we can't have them getting caught in the cross-fire now, can we?"** He asked sweetly as the woman shook her head again miserably.

The red skinned demon grinned as he released her shoulders. He fed off her pain and madness; it made him stronger and he relished the power it gave him – Another reason why she was his favorite play-thing.

He flicked a claw at her, dismissing the half-mad woman, grinning as she all but ran to get away from him.

" **Smile my dear Sedusa: Your going back home."**

* * *

 **Authors note:** _Remember that one cousin Bellum had that was mentioned back in chapter 6? WELL NOW WE KNOW WHO SHE IS._

 _And my god. After so much hype… Sudusa makes her grand debut. Ohhh boy she's got herself into some major trouble with the devil himself. ;)_

 _On a side note: 80+ REVIEWS AND OVER 50+ FAVOUIRTES. OH MY GOODNESS THNAK YOU SO MUCH! I'M HONORED!_

 _Now I let you in on a little secret: I wrote all three of the boys POV's while they were in their wolf forms in this chapter._

 _I have a specific way of writing each one – as they all have varying degrees of control while they're in beast mode, so the wolf POV in chapter 5 was actually all done from one of the boys in particular. I'll leave it up to you to decipher who is who, and I'll post the answers at a later date. ;)_

 _ *****_ _Text actually belongs to the amazing Carriedreamer who came up with it in an amazing conversation a few months back. I just had to use it of course. Thank you for allowing me to do so my dear! It worked sooo well! 3_

 _Unfortunately I do have some news regarding this story. I am heading back to college starting this upcoming September. That meaning I won't be working on any Fanfictions during that time – roughly 7 to 8 months. Ultimately, it's why this chapter was so long, it's my way of ending "Season 1" of Lycan._

 _This is the "Season Finale" as Carrie puts it. "Season 2" probably won't start until I'm done my first year of college. I'll be working on the upcoming chapters here and there when I have time, but I won't be updating anything until I'm completely done school._

 _Every chapter of Lycan takes a great deal of time to write out and edit, and I want every single one to be perfect – meaning I like to give it my full attention. Between it and college well… School will ultimately win that fight, but I will come back to Lycan once I am done with class! This story has stolen my heart and I will work on it until its completion, you have my word!_

 _I would once again like to thank every single one of you who has left a review, followed or favorited Lycan. It's extremely humbling and I appreciate every single one of you. I delicate this story to you!_

 _Until we meet again,_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	9. Flirting with Disaster

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _Ladies and gentlemen… After months of inactivity_ … _ **I HAVE RISEN FROM THE DEAD TO BRING YOU CHAPTER 9 OF LYCAN – AKA THE START OF "SEASSON 2"**_

 _This has been a long time coming my darlings, I apologise for making you all wait for so long, but not to worry – it is finally here!_

 _Please enjoy._

 _The rating of this story is a_ _ **High T**_ _for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned._

 _Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners._

 _The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages._

 _Let's begin._

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Flirting with Disaster**

Mitch stood rigidly in the doorway as he looked at the older man with an almost lifeless look in his dark eyes. John swallowed painfully as the younger man stared him down – his one bloody eye fixated on his shaking form.

 _Dear god he's alive._ John thought to himself amazed as he swayed in place. _Torn up, but alive. Someone must be watching over him…_

"Professor." Mitch's ragged voice cut across his thoughts. "I can't beat around the bush anymore. I need to talk to you about what happened last night. The situation that Townsville is facing is more then just dire now – its completely out of control." He admitted roughly, refusing to meet the shocked and horrified looks that his daughters were giving him.

"I think you know something Professor." Mitch continued as he moved into the threshold of Bellum manor. "I need you to tell me what's going on. I need the truth… All of it."

"Mitch-" Bubbles began worriedly, only for the lean male to hold up a hand, cutting her off.

"Please Professor." The brown-haired man muttered as he rubbed uselessly at the destroyed skin around his eye, causing John to wince at the almost pleading tone in the young man's voice.

"No one from my hunting team made it last night. The… The whatever it is – killed them. All of them. I'm the only one who made it out of there… and that was by sheer dumb luck more then actual skill."

John placed his head in his hands as he let a pained groan, before peering out of the cracks in his fingers at Mitch. "Lets… Let's talk about this somewhere that's privet alright?" he asked shakily as he moved toward the manors hallway.

"I think my study is as good as a place as any."

Mitch nodded and processed to move after the graying man, only for Buttercup to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mitch… No. You need to get medical attention, your eye looks absolutely horrible-"

"Buttercup, after what I witnessed last night, my face is the least of my concerns. Townsville doesn't know what horrors its forest is concealing within. I need to find out what your father may know, so I can beat these things… whatever they are."

"Do… do you know? What it is I mean?" Blossom bit her lip nervously as she subconsciously reached up to touch her concealed shoulder, feeling the bandaged bite beneath the fabric of her dress.

Mitch narrowed his eyes at the action, however he let the strange movement pass as he gave the chestnut-haired beauty a half shrug.

"I have some notion." He muttered as he brushed past the sisters to follow John to his private study, leaving the girls alone in the cold foyer.

A deadly silence fell over the young woman as they stared after the damaged young man. It was broken suddenly as Buttercup whipped around to face her sisters with frantic green eyes. "The Hell?" She gasped she pointed in the direction where Mitch and they're father had disappeared. "I can't believe it… he's alive!"

"He's in bad shape though…" Bubbles whispered, unable to take her wide blue orbs off of where Mitch had been standing moments before. "The scars on his face… those… those… _things_ from last night… they did that to him…" The young blonde lapsed into a paralyzed silence as she bowed her head in shock.

"That could have very well been us." Blossom murmured as she gentled wrapped an arm around Bubbles's slim shoulders. "Or worse." She added as an afterthought. She narrowed her eyes at Buttercup as she rubbed her concealed shoulder. "This is why we should have stayed home last night. You heard him: he was the only one who made it out alive… all of the other hunters are dead." She shuddered as her mind took her back to the moment where the beast had torn apart the one unfortunate hunter before her very eyes, and she cringed inwardly, roughly shaking her head.

Buttercup chewed on her lip nervously as she observed her sisters. Both were in rough shape from the night before. Both girls had suffered deep bite wounds from the beasts that had followed them- no, _stalked them_ through the forest – Buttercup corrected herself grimly.

Mentally, both of her sisters were worn down. She wasn't blind – she could see the wear and tear that the nights events had inflected on them. Buttercup could honestly say that she wasn't in much better shape herself, but Bubbles had turned into a paranoid wreck and Blossom was acting almost as if she were hollow. Her red-haired sister hadn't quite bounced back to her confident, leadership abilities yet, and needless to say it worried the raven-haired woman greatly.

She fought the urge to duck her head in shame as she observed her sisters. The was no denying it: _This was her fault._ And she knew that

She had been the one who had wanted to go out, hoping to catch a glimpse at what had her father so frightened and as a result, both her of siblings had taken the fall during the insuring chaos – she had been lucky. The beast that had followed her through the woods was more interested in her sent then taking a chunk out of her…

Buttercup slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the choked sob that threated to escape her throat as she thought back to last night where she had spent hours in the bathroom, cleaning out Blossom's shoulder.

There had been so much blood… too much to be considered normal… she and Bubbles had easily gone through four towels during their efforts to stanch the blood flow, only to dispose of the towels afterwards, finding them to be unsalvageable.

There was no denying it – because of her actions, both of her sisters had gotten seriously hurt. The responsivity was hers. She would take the blame should they're secret be discovered.

"Blossom, Bubbles… I am so, _so_ sorry… If I had known what was going to happen if we went out, I would have _never_ taken the two of you with me-"

"Buttercup, enough." Blossom murmured gently as she moved forward to give her obsidian haired sister a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. "You had no possible way of knowing what was going to happen going into the woods. _I_ didn't even expect to see anything, so I didn't expect you to know that something was going to happen."

"But still, you and Bubbles-" Buttercup protested, only to get cut off as Blossom held up a hand.

"Bubbles and I are both fine." She murmured. "We're both still alive and breathing, so that's something to be grateful for. Things could have gone much worse. Don't blame yourself."

"You're not _fine."_ Buttercup snarled as she shook her older sisters hand off. "That _thing_ bit you almost down to the _bone –_ do you even remember how many towels Bubbles and I went though before your shoulder stopped gushing blood?!"

"I can't say that I do… Though I'd really rather you not tell me." Blossom muttered quickly upon seeing Buttercup's mouth open again. The lime eyed woman shut it again with a frown, before moving over to Bubbles, only to push the blonde sleeve out of the way – reavling her bandaged arm.

"Look at this. The other thing turned Bubbles's arm into a goddamn chew toy. I went through three rolls of gauze before it stopped leaking through. We're just lucky it's not her dominate hand." She growled.

Bubbles quickly yanked her sleeve back down as she glanced about wildly. "Buttercup keep your voice down, what if someone hears you?" She whispered frantically. "People can't know what we saw-"

"Speaking of that: How long to you suppose we can keep this a secret?" Buttercup asked as she slowly backed away.

"What do you mean? What we saw from last night? As long as we have to keep it a secret! No one can know that we were out-"

"Bubbles… more people are dead. Hell, we _saw-_ no, _heard_ it happen last night. The body count is getting out of control, we _need_ to tell someone. Need I remind you that those things have killed _both_ our Uncle _and_ Grandfather! We need to tell the people what they're really up against before it happens again! The town needs to know that there's more then one-"

"We wont need to say anything." Blossom whispered. "What?" Buttercup deadpanned as she turned to face the auburn-haired woman. "Blossom, I thought you of all people would agree with me on this one. We have a duty to warn the people just what is in those woods. If we don't more and more people will die! So what if we get in trouble? People need to know what we saw-"

"We wont have to say anything because Mitch is here." Blossom pointed out coolly. "There is no doubt in my mind that he and father are going to discuss just what happened light night." She let a small sigh pass her petal pink lips upon seeing the annoyed look on Buttercups face.

"Don't misunderstand me Buttercup, I do want to tell people, I really do, but if father finds out… if he hears that we snuck out of the house in the middle of the night and got attacked by those creatures… do you know what they would do to him? You've seen how stressed and on-edge he's been lately. If he finds out what happened to us, it was _destroy_ him."

Buttercup grimaced at the mention of their father. He had come close on several occasions to having a few mental breakdowns already – she didn't want to be the cause of an _actual one._

"I suppose…" The tall ravenette bowed her head. "He isn't well… I suppose it wouldn't be fair to put more stress on his shoulders." She looked in the direction of the manor's study, where their father and Mitch had disappeared to, and jerked her thumb in their direction, "What do you think that they're saying?"

"I don't know, only that it's not good, whatever it is." Bubbles sighed. "I'm almost tempted to listen in and see what they're saying but… I think we've gotten ourselves into enough trouble for the time being."

A stiff silence fell over the group as the girls stood frigidly in the foyer, unsure of what to do next. Suddenly Bubbles snapped her fingers as she swiftly turned to look at Blossom. "That reminds me, you had something to tell us, didn't you?"

Blossom stiffened and nodded ridgely. "Yes… I do… But I don't know how you'll take it…"

"Blossom at this point, nothing can really surprise us. Just tell us." Buttercup sighed as she ran a hand thought her wild raven hair.

"Alright, if you insist." The rose orbed woman murmured as she looked down at the floor. "Brick asked me to marry him."

At the news, both Buttercup and Bubbles's eyes widened impossibly. "W-what?" Buttercup asked with a strangled gasp. "Come again?"

"Just this morning… at the estate… he… he asked me to marry him." Blossom wet her lips nervously. "I… I didn't give him an actual answer… I told him I didn't know what I wanted…"

"Did you tell papa?" Bubbles asked gently as she moved over to squeeze her hand. Blossom shook her head. "Absolutely not. He hasn't even asked papa's permission… I mean… it was just so sudden. One minute he was showing Princess around the mansion, and the next, he suddenly askes me to be his bride after Princess attempted to flirt with him-"

"HA, I bet _that_ shut her up."

"That's not the point Buttercup."

"But it did, didn't it."

"… Yes."

"Glorious. I wish I could have seen the look on that wretch's face-"

"ANYWAYS." Blossom raised her voice slightly in an effort to steer the conversation back on track. "I was so shocked I couldn't even answer him. He said that he would very much like to wed me though... It's just that I owe him an answer now though…"

"Well, do you even want to marry him?" Bubbles asked. "I mean it's nice that we have enough status that we are able to chose who we wed, and it's nice that we've known them since we were children, but… we've only just met them after such a long time apart…"

"I know, that's why I didn't give him an answer right then." Blossom sighed. "He told me to think about it, but he does have a point… we _are_ getting to the age where we need to find a match…"

"That doesn't mean that it has to happen right now." Buttercup pointed out, as she crossed her arms. "With all of the murders that are happening around the town right now – not to mention those… those… things from last night, finding a suitor is _not_ one of my top priorities."

"I suppose that now is not a good time to tell the both of you that Brick knows we went out into the forest?" Blossom flinched as Buttercup's eyes widened and narrowed in on her like a hawk.

"What in hell's name are you thinking?!" she hissed. "Telling him something like that! And you told us just now that we couldn't tell _dad_ of all people! And yet you go ahead and tell _him?!_ I don't understand you sometimes – what of he tells?"

"He wont say anything. He promised." Blossom murmured as she rubbed her temples. "and I dint tell him, he noticed that my shoulder was bothering me and he saw the bite. I didn't tell him intentionally." She corrected. "and you believe him?" Buttercup challenged. "I have too, I don't have any reason _not_ to." Blossom pointed out. Buttercup threw her hands up into the air at her sister's response. "Unliveable." She breathed crossly, before turning towards Bubbles who had been silent the entire time. "Blondie, what do you make of all this?" she asked the quiet blue eyed girl.

Breathing out though her nose, Bubbles gently brushed past her older sisters, and moved down the hallway towards the manor's living room. Blossom raised an eyebrow at the blonde girl in surprise. "Where are you going?"

Bubbles turned around briefly to wearily smile at her eldest sister. "The living room. I need to sit down for a little bit… this is… a lot to take in… I'd also like to check on Gran – we need to make sure that she doesn't wander off again. Mama say's that she's not responding to her name anymore." A pause. "Would you like to accompany me?"

Blossom sighed as she though about her ailing grandmother. She hadn't gotten any better since Christmas – If anything the small woman had gotten worse. Now the elderly woman was not responding to her name and had disappeared for several hours the day before, only to be found outside in the back garden… staring at the woods…

"I'll come with you, mama has been so worried about her lately and I'm sure she'd apricate the extra help." She said softly as she began to follow after Bubbles. "Buttercup? Are you going to come?"

The dark beauty let her eyes drop to her feet at the mention of her grandmother. She was silent for a moment more before she shook her head. "Everyone is losing their minds around here." She muttered. Casting one last look in the direction her father and Mitch had gone, she followed after her sisters in silence – a sinking feeling in her stomach telling her that she was not far off from the truth.

* * *

"Mitch are you sure that we can't discuss this at some other point, preferably _after_ you've seen a doctor… your face looks like it's been completely destroyed-"

"NO professor, this has to be done _now_ I'm not putting it off any longer, besides, it looks worse then it actually is." Mitch snapped as both men entered the study – Mitch all but slamming the door behind them.

The study was a large room, painted a fresh, seafoam green colour. Grand bay windows were placed along the right side of the room, allowing the pale sunlight outside to light up the interior. A library style bookcase filled with old tomes, took up the back wall of the study, and an old grandfather clock sat ticking away in the back-left corner of the room beside the bookcase. Directly beside the door leading into the study, was a floor length mirror, with a think layer of dust on it, and in the middle of the room sat a massive dark oak desk, complete with a large, dark red, plush chair seated just behind it. John slowly made his way over to the desk and sat in the chair – watching Mitch with weary eyes as the younger man opted to pace around the room in front of the desk.

"I'm going to cut straight to the chase professor, because you and I both know we can't afford to beat around the bush anymore – there isn't just one. There are _three_ of these things running around in the woods. " Mitch growled as he risked a glance in the mirror at his reflection, only to see that his one eye's sclera was almost completely red from broken blood vessels, and his face was a mess of angry red lines from where the Alpha had clawed him.

"There are three." He muttered as he turned away from the mirror and back towards John. "They are some of the strongest and most intelligent creatures that I have come across to date. There's something about them… Something is not normal with them. Not normal at all." He repeated.

John was quiet for a moment, before putting his elbows on the top of the des and burying his head in his heads. "I know…" He murmured softly. "I know… because I saw them too… That night at the gypsy camp… I came face to face with one of them… but I saw two more appear as well… I just… I thought… I had just hoped that it wasn't real, that I was seeing things that night."

"You… saw the three of them… and you didn't think to tell anyone." Mitch muttered as he momentarily stopped his pacing to stare at the older man in disbelieve. " _WHY?"_

It's like I said… I saw… many unbelievable things that night." John sighed. "I was almost killed but the one… and I only caught a fleeting glance at the other two before they took off as well… I wasn't sure of what I saw, I wanted to make sure that I-" he cut himself off. "I don't know anymore." He muttered. "I didn't want to believe what I was seeing I suppose."

"Speaking of the gypsy's, I've been meaning to ask you about that." Mitch hissed as he tentively touched his damaged face with a slight wince. "I actually went to the campsite just before I went out into the woods to hunt those things – just too see if I could get any information about what was in the forest, and I actually did meet a few gypsy's who told me _exactly_ what they think it is. I won't lie to you professor – after what I've seen… I think that they just might be right."

He eyed the older man. "But I want to know what _you_ where doing there sir. You don't strike me as the type to go visiting gypsy camps."

John eyed the torn-up man for a moment before silently digging into his pocket and producing a silver medallion. Placing it on the desk in front of him, he nodded to Mitch who came over to take a closer look at the trinket.

"That." He nodded to the pendant. "That is why I went there."

Mitch gently traced over the intricate picture on the pendants flat surface. He shuddered as he traced over the small wolf howling at the full moon. _How ironic,_ he thought to himself bitterly, as he looked up to meet John's weary gaze. "What is this exactly?'

"… You remember how my brother was one of the victims, correct?" John asked as he sucked in a breath. Mitch nodded, waiting for the professor to continue. "That was found on his body when he died. I was told that it came from the gypsy camp, and I went there, hoping to find out why he had it on his person. I ended up meeting a few gypsy girls who told me about the pendant and its purpose – and that's when the beasts attacked… it was madness…"

"What is it used for?" Mitch asked, still tracing the pendent. John snorted ruthfully.

"It's, and I quote 'supposed to protect the user from evil spirits'… a good lot that did for Eugene… he didn't deserve what happened to him… they couldn't even recognize his body when they found it-" John cut himself off with a choked sob, becoming too upset to continue speaking. He was quiet as he took a few shuddering breathes in, in a failed effort to calm himself.

"The gypsy's I spoke to had a similar pendent and that's how they knew." He finished hollowly with a bitter laugh. "and then, right after that, they had the gull to tell me-" he shook his head. "Never mind… it's ridiculous. You'd never believe-"

"Professor. After last night, I am open to anything at this point, and if I'm right, I have a feeling I know what you're going to say." Mitch muttered lowly as he placed his hands down on the desk. "Now, what did they tell you?"

John picked up the silver medallion from off the desk and gently stroked the smooth surface of it. Without looking up to meet Mitch's gaze he muttered " _Lycan's._ they told me that it was goddamn _Werewolfs_ that were causing the killings."

The older man waited for the young hunter to laugh – to call him crazy, and storm out. What he did _not_ expect was the look of triumph to suddenly appear on the man's slashed face.

"I fucking _knew it!"_ he declared. "I knew you saw the same gypsy's I did! They told me that they gave you the same warning!"

He managed to calm himself down slightly before looking at John again. "Professor, this may seem crazy to you – but I think that they're right."

John groaned as he leaned back in the chair and covered his face with his hands. "Oh no Mitch… Don't tell me you're buying into that nonsense as well-"

"Don't you see? It makes sense!" Mitch argued. "I saw the same gypsy's that you saw, and they were the ones who told me about the beasts! _They're_ the ones who told me to use silver on them! Out of all the weapons we had in the forest with us, the _silver_ was the only thing that seemed to work on them! Without their help I would be dead for sure!"

"You saw Berserk and her sisters?" John asked amazed. "They… they were the ones who told me about my brother's medallion… and about what it meant… They have another that looks exactly like it…" he trailed off, purposefully leaving out the part about them being related to the Jojo's.

"Oh man… they're right. They've been right this whole damn time and no ones listened to them!" Mitch said as he returned to pacing, lacing his hands behind his head as he walked in circles. "I don't know how they knew, but I don't care – we need to get the word out, and _fast."_ He declared.

"Well that's… a start, but how in hell's name are we supposed to tell the town about this… conclusion without them throwing both of us in a mental institution?" John asked as he raised a brow. Mitch was quiet as he pondered it. Finally, he sighed and looked John dead in the eye.

The professor caught his look and felt his own eyes widen in panic. "Oh no- don't say what I think you're about to say-"

"Professor… You're going to have to be the one to tell it to the town." Mitch said firmly as he crossed his arms.

John's own eyes widened at the young man's words, and the dark haired man almost collapsed back into his chair in shock. "M-me?!" he croaked. "W-why me? You're the one who saw them… the one who fought them!"

"Yes, and look how well _that_ turned out." Mitch snapped as he suddenly winced and grabbed his bruised ribs. "I got twelve good men killed because _I_ was underprepared for what was in those woods. I might have a good reputation as a hunter, but I am the _last_ person that the town wants to hear from at the moment, and they will definitely _not_ want to hear me tell them that there are… paranormal creatures running around unchecked in the forest! But you – you have credibility, the people here _trust_ you, _respect_ you. You're the man who knows everything here – the one who has an answer to everything. If you tell them – they'll listen."

"Yes but to something like that-"

"It sounds insane. I know. But it's a small town, and they can't necessary afford to lose anymore people" Mitch argued. "Most of the people here also happen to be… how do I say it? …Superstitious? No… _extremely religious_ is a better way to say it – and judging from one conversation I had with a hunter before he died, half the town is starting to think that it's a demon anyways." Mitch admitted as he continued to rub at his tender ribs.

"Well… They aren't quite wrong." John muttered as he reached into one of the desks wooden draws and pulled out a bottle of scotch and two shot glasses. Pouring the amber liquid into the two glasses he downed one, and offered the other to Mitch, who declined with a slight shake of the head. John shrugged, before downing the second shot himself, and put the bottle and the glasses back in their proper place in the desk. Catching Mitch's look, he flushed bashfully.

"It was the Mayor's." he explained. "He barely drank because couldn't hold his liquor to save his life, but he had a fondness for scotch, and I knew he kept some in his desk… I must admit, I've been indulging in it a little too much recently."

Mitch only shook his head. "Perfectly understandable, but we do need to keep a clear head regarding this situation. We need to figure out how to get the word out about what these things are without causing panic, or worse – a mob."

"Well how do we go about doing that?" John muttered as he put his head in his hands. "The towns people are expecting me to come up with an answer to what's been causing all the murders. I can't just come out and say: 'well everyone, it looks like _WEREWOLFS_ are the culprits. Everyone board up your houses and lock your doors come the full moon!' Lord what will Mojo think if I come up and say that to him?" He chuckled darkly, before stiffening suddenly.

"Oh god… what _is_ Mojo going to think?" John groaned as she raked his hands though his hair. "If I say those things that are lurking in the woods are _Werewolfs…_ He'll sooner throw me in a mental institution the believe me."

"Mojo has access to the same records you do." Mitch pointed out. "He's seeing the exact same information that you're seeing. Neither of you have an explanation to what's been behind the murders, so why wouldn't he believe you? I'll come with you to explain it to him if you want – I'm living proof after all."

"You'll probably need too" John snorted. "He'd never believe me otherwise. But… He and I… we've seen, and done… some horrible things back when we were young and naïve… This is not the most wild thing I've ever heard of if you'll believe it… maybe he will believe me… if I can prove it to him beyond a reasonable doubt…"

"You need to try." Mitch urged. "We need to get as many influential people on our side as possible before we can say anything indefinitely. So far you and Mojo are the most influential, even the police are following your lead." He pointed out.

"Yes, but the police are another story. They'll need to see these things for themselves before they'll believe that _Lycan's_ are the ones that are responsible for all of the murders." John mumbled. "We are going to have to be very careful about how we word this… and we'll have to break it to the townsfolk very, _very_ gently – after losing my father-in-law, the towns people have become extremely paranoid. I'm afraid that this news might truly push some of them over the edge of insanity."

"Yes, you're right, but they will need to be told – the sooner the better." Mitch nodded. "They need to know about the danger that the woods possess in order for them to properly protect themselves. We just have to be smart about it." He looked at the professor with hooded eyes.

"And sir? … That goes the same for the girls."

John turned as white as a sheet at the mention of his daughters – the very thought of telling them something so far-fetched, so dreadful – was the last thing on his mind. He raised his voice in protest, only for Mitch to interrupt him quickly.

"I know you want to protect them professor, believe me – I want to as well, more then anything. But keeping secrets from them – its not helping them, its _hurting_ them."

Mitch glared at the older man strongly as he stood up, eyeing John firmly.

"I suggest that you tell them soon. Maybe not today, not after everything's that's happened. After all, the last thing anyone wants to hear is that… well… the possibility that _Lycan's_ are terrorizing the town – it sounds mildly absurd, I am very much aware of that fact. Not many people will be inclined to listen to it…"

"But what other choice do we have?" John whispered, broken. Mitch gave him a pitying look.

"Exactly." He mumbled. "I know you and your old partner were going over the victim's records and bodies – but you even said so yourself: all of them were killed on a full moon, and all of the damage done to the bodies didn't match up to any one animal, correct?"

John nodded, refusing to meet his eyes, as he reached into another one of the desks draws and pulled out his pipe. Without meeting the younger man's eyes, he pulled out a match and lit the pipe – taking in long, deep breaths, as he stared off into the distance. Mitch sighed as he raked a hand though his blood-stained hair. Today he had finally broken though the professor's black and white views on the world of science and rationality, leaving the older man very much confused on what was real, and what was not. He honestly didn't know how to feel about that achievement.

"Listen professor… I don't think that it's as insane as you think it is. There are things in this world that we are not supposed to understand – and probably never will for that matter. During my time hunting, I've seen… things… things that I can't explain rationally. Things that give me nightmares even now. It comes along with the territory of doing the type of hunting that I do, I suppose – but nothing ever fully prepares you for when the supernatural looks you straight in the face."

Mitch sucked in a breath as he dropped his hand, looking at the professor though his one good eye. "The point is: The supernatural… it does exist. It might be hard for you to believe, but their wold is tied much closer together with ours then we're lead to believe."

"Oh trust me Mitch – I know." John whispered quietly as he finally met the young man's bloodshot eyes. "I know it exists… I tampered with it when I was young and foolish, and I payed the price. Why do you think it is that I stick to the solid facts now? Why do you think I've stayed away from here for so long?"

Mitch was silent as he stared unblinkingly at the professor. _Just what had this man done-_

John shook his head with a bitter chuckle as he lit his pipe up again. "It doesn't matter now." He muttered ruthfully around the stem of the pipe. "I'm trapped here until about mid April, until Sara's cousin can make it down here and take this damn place off our hands – my efforts were all in vain."

Sucking in a deep breath, he blew out a cloud of nicotine tinted smoke, and watched as it circled in the air for a moment before it cleared. "and now my daughters are near those… those _creatures_ again-"

Mitch's slashed eyebrow rose and his eyed widened as the professor cut himself off, shaking his head rapidly. " _Creatures_ professor?" He asked as John frantically shook his head and took another drag from his pipe.

"Not the creatures you and I are discussing." He assured the younger man. Sneaking a glance over at the large grandfather clock in the corner of the study, John slid off the desk and lightly placed a hand on Mitch's shoulder. "It's close to noon – you probably haven't slept since yesterday morning." He muttered concerned. "You best be getting home, and get yourself cleaned up proper. I'll call a carriage for you to take you back home to your grandmother – better yet, one that will take you to the town _doctor."_

"Professor, that wont be necessary-" Mitch let out a hiss as he turned too quickly, fighting back a yelp of pain as he felt the gashes on his stomach from the beasts claws, open up again painfully.

John lifted an eyebrow as he folded his arms. "Oh no, I _insist_." He said as he helped escort Mitch towards the study door. "You need to have those looked at and cleaned immediately. My daughters would have my head if I didn't make sure you were properly taken care of – bless them."

"Yes," Mitch winced as he accepted the professors arm to help support himself. "Bless them indeed. Bless _all_ of us… We're going to need it."

* * *

"Mitch, are you sure that you'll be alright-"

"Blossom, don't you worry about me – your father has a carriage waiting to take me to the doctor, I'll be just fine." Mitch assured the beautiful red-head with a small smile. "Really, I've been through much worse."

"You're an idiot." Buttercup snapped. "You should have gotten out of there as soon as those things starting attacking. You could have died." She snapped as she moved to stand in front of him, but Mitch noticed that her bright green eyes were filled with concern – letting him know that she was more worried then she let on.

He sighed and reached forward to ruffle her long obsidian locks, earning a muffled sound of protest. "I love you too BC." He told her fondly "Seriously. I'll be fine, I'm going into town to get cleaned up and then I'm going straight home. My poor Gran is going to have a heart attack when she see's me – God knows I've made he worry enough."

"and Robin too." Bubbles added. "She probably worried sick right now! I'm sure she'd love to hear that you're alright!" Mitch cast a glance over to the young blond as his fiancés name was mentioned. _Yes, he'd have to write to her once he got back home – she would be expecting a letter from him soon anyways._

"Rob… Knows that with my job there are certain…. Risks, that come along with it." Mitch slowly admitted. "She's seen me in worse states… But I'll be better by the time I return to her. I tend to heal pretty fast." His face took on a solemn look as he gazed out one of the foyers windows. "As soon as I'm better, I'm going back out there to finish what I started once and for all."

The girls stared at the young man's blood stained clothes, and shredded skin in a stunned silence, before springing back to life.

"You… You can't be serious Mitch. You actually plan on going back out, and trying to kill those things?" Blossom finally managed to choke out after a moments pause.

"Absolutely not. You'll _DIE._ Hell, you almost died last night! Those things could have killed you – your death is a very real possibility you stupid boy! Does that not bother you?!" Buttercup hissed as she pulled at her hair.

"My sisters are right Mitch, they killed the rest of your group, and a lot of other people too!" Bubbles protested with tears in her eyes. "You can't go back out there!"

Mitch however was silent as he took on the three girls before him with narrowed eyes.

"How did you know?" he asked lowly, prompting the three ladies before him to quiet down and give him puzzled looks.

"What do you mean?" Bubbles asked as she twisted a pieces of her blonde hair around her fingers nervously – put off by the sudden change in the man's demeanor.

"How did you know there was more then one?" he clarified, glaring at them harshly.

A cold silence filled the foyer as Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles felt their hearts stop in their chests. _He can't know…_ Blossom thought to herself desperately, as her concealed shoulder began to throb with pain again. _He can't find out, not now!_ She frantically began to rack her brain, trying to think of something to say to cover up their mistake, before Bubbles quickly stepped up.

"Oh, umm, we- we thought you said there was more then one!" she strutted with a nervous laugh. "Did you not say so?"

"Is there more then one?" Buttercup asked, playing along with her younger sister. Mitch only shook his head at them slowly.

"I don't think I said anything about there being more then one beast." He muttered, eyeing them again, as he shook his head tiredly. "Maybe I did though… I'm just so exhausted I can't think clearly right now."

"But is there more then one?" Buttercup pressed. Mitch wiped at his swollen eye before nodding once. "Yes." He whispered quietly. "Yes there is. That's why I must go back. I have to finish this. I don't know where they came from, or how they got here, but they must be destroyed before more people are mindlessly slaughtered."

"But what are they exactly?" Blossom whispered as she took a step towards him. "Please tell us Mitch… No one tells us anything anymore."

Mitch turned his head slightly to look at her shoulder – at the one he had noticed her rubbing earlier, she noticed – almost as if he was looking through her clothes and at the bite itself. She shifted uncomfortably at his silent assessment, as his bloodshot eyes raked over her curiously.

Finally, he shook his head and looked up to meet their questioning eyes. "That is something that your father is going to discuss with you. It's not my place to say at the moment."

"But he doesn't tell us anything-" Buttercup started to protest.

"I know, I know Buttercup, but I think I've gotten through to him." Mitch soothed. "I told him that not telling you three anything isn't helping to keep you safe. You have a right to know just like everyone else."

Peering out the door he stifled another sigh as he looked around that them. "My coach is here – I'll be in touch ladies. You should expect your father to talk to you about this mess sometime next week. If he hasn't, send for me and I'll tell you myself. In the meantime…"

He glared menacingly at the three sisters as he opened the door.

"Stay out of the woods."

With that, he opened the door fully, stepped out side, and slammed the door behind him. Leaving an ominous silence in his place.

* * *

 **Bellum manor, January 7** **th** **1830, six days after Mitch's visit**

Blossom sighed as she carefully set down her book and glanced out the manor's living room. It was close to a week after Mitch's startling visit and since then, everything had been tense around the manor. Her father had been spending more and more time way from the family and in the downstairs basement, muttering quietly to himself, leaving Blossom to wonder if he was even sleeping. Her mother had been more stressed then usual, partly due to her husband's odd behavior but also because of their grandmother – who at this point, Blossom suspected that she had completely lost touch with reality and wasn't aware of her surroundings anymore. As for her sisters… they had kept mostly to themselves, Buttercup was growing angry of the lack of information from their father, and Bubbles was becoming more withdrawn as the day's past.

Blossom huffed as she stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dark red dress as she moved out of the living room and though the manor's halls, looking for something to do. The week had been extremely quiet, as the family had stayed indoors after the recent attack. With her father refusing to let anyone out of the house – an uneasy feeling had taken hold of the manor and its inhabitants. While Blossom yearned to get out of the house and wander around Townsville for a while, she didn't dare, fearing that doing so would scare her already paranoid father farther.

As she walked the halls, she gently pushed down the shoulder on her dress to expose her damaged shoulder. Over the last week, it had healed surprisingly quickly, considering how hard the beast had bitten down. She had changed the bandages early that morning, only to find that a few of the puncture marks had already closed over, and the area surrounding the bite was only a little pink, as opposed to the bright, inflamed red it had been almost a week prior.

She found it odd at how well such a wound was healing but chose not to question it. After all, if it continued to heal the way it was currently, she would only have a few faint scars-

 **Knock, Knock.**

A sudden knocking at the door snapped Blossom out of her reprieve, and she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Now who could that be?" she muttered as she headed towards the front door, where the knocking was emanating from. Reaching the front foyer, she glanced around to see if anyone else in her family was going to answer the door. Both of her younger sisters remined upstairs, and her father remined down in the basement, indicating to her that they probably hadn't heard the knocking. Blossom waited one more moment to see if her mother was going to answer the door. When the voluptuous woman didn't appear, Blossom moved forward towards the door, assuming that she was busy tending to her grandmother.

Unlocking the heavy wooden door, Blossom opened the door, squinting as the cold winter winds assaulted her face, making her rose irises water and forcing them closed for a moment.

"Hello, welcome to the Bellum residence, how can I- Oh Brick!"

The auburn-haired woman gasped as she reopened her eyes, only to see Brick Jojo standing on the front step. He grinned down at her as he ran a hand through his freshly cropped hair. "Hi there pinky, can I come in?"

"Oh, but of course, it's freezing out there – did you ride here?" Blossom asked, her questions causing Brick to chuckle, a deep, throaty rumbling sound, as he closed the door until there was only open a crack. "I did, it's not that cold out there. It… refreshing." He ginned at her disbelieving look.

"Well, that's a matter of opinion," Blossom attempted a small laugh, "What are you even doing on this part of town? Might I ask Mr. Jojo?"

"I came to see you."

Blossom's freckled cheeks flushed a dark red at his abruptness. "O-oh, did you now? W-well that's very nice of you… we haven't had anyone over in such a long time-"

"Pardon my suddenness Blossom, but are you doing anything today?" Brick asked as he smoothly cut across her surprised stuttering. Blossom shook her head. "No, I cant say I am. This week has been quiet for us." She admitted. "Really I've been trying to keep busy more then anything."

"Then what do you say about going into town with me for a few hours?" Brick grinned. "We can do some… catching up while we're there."

"Like… like a… _date_?" Blossom coughed. Brick nodded, and suddenly, a strange feeling rushed though her as she stared up into his searing red eyes. She shuddered involuntarily as a mixture of chills and prickles make there way up and down her spine and her arms – similar to the one that she experienced back in the Jojo mansion when Brick had taken her off to the side.

 _It was odd._ She mused. _No one else gave her that type of feeling – it was only when she was around him for some reason. She couldn't tell whether or not it was a good feeling or not…_

Brick grinned, leering down at the smaller woman. "You could say that if you want. It would give us some time to discus a few things, if you know what I mean?"

Blossom inwardly cringed. Yes, she knew _exactly_ what he was talking about. But she still didn't have an answerer for him… she hadn't thought much about the proposal in the past week if she was to be honest with herself.

"I… I don't know if my parents would appreciate me leaving the house with a man unsupervised." She murmured. "They are very… ah… traditional? They wouldn't approve-"

"Well now it's just little old me. Come on, I don't bite." Brick grinned, almost sinisterly at her as he flashed her his pearly whites. "Your old enough now to make your own choices sweetheart. Are you really going to let your parents dictate what you do for the rest of your life?" he asked with a smirk.

Something about the way he said it, combined with his cocky smirk – made her oddly defensive. She crossed her arms, and lifted her chin, as she stared up at him defiantly

"If you're going to be so brash, then no Brick, I won't come into town with you – my father doesn't want my sisters and I going out anyways-"

"Careful now Pinky. We wouldn't want your dear, darling father to find out that his precious daughters snuck out in the middle of the night, and had a surprise encounter with the beasts of the forest now, would we?"

Blossom tensed up as the full implication of Brick's words struck her. Her wide pink eyes found his face – only to find him smirking unkindly as her as he loomed over her.

 _No… he wouldn't dare… would he?_

"I never took you for the one to stoop to black-mailing Mr. Jojo. It's hardly flattering." Blossom hissed as she locked eyes with Brick. He simply grinned savagely at her in response.

"When there's something that I want, I'll do _whatever_ it takes to get it." Brick smirked as he bent down slightly so he was eye-level with her.

"And I do mean _anything."_

Blossom felt herself back up a pace, and her breathing quickened as the unnatural blood red orbs locked on her pale figure. She shuddered involuntarily as she tried to shake off the unnerving feeling that she got as his eyes raked across her slender form.

 _There is was again… that odd prickly feeling. The same one that she experienced back in the Jojo mansion when Brick pulled her aside._ Blossom shook her head as she waved away the prickling sensation on her skin.

Why he of all people had this effect on her, she could not say for certain – all she knew was that it was unnerving.

" _You're just over reacting. Calm down."_ She chanted to herself as she forced her feet to move back over towards the red-haired man. "Very well then." She sighed as she took her prized fan out of her sleeve. Opening it, she began to fan herself lightly, never taking her eyes off his unnatural red ones. "I'll come with you into town. Though I will have you know that there are much better ways of asking a lady out."

Brick eyed the fan wearily. "Do you always keep that thing up your sleeve?"

"Not always up my sleeve, but it's usually somewhere on my person." Blossom responded coolly with a hint of a smirk, as she watched the intimidating man flinch at the thought of the last time she had used the fan on him.

 _Well if all else fails, at least I could use it on him-_

"Actually, I don't suppose that your sisters would like to join us?" Brick asked suddenly as he snuck a glance behind him out the slightly ajar door. Blossom quirked and eyebrow. "I don't think that they would necessary mind… Can I ask why the sudden interest in them?"

"Because my brothers are outside."

Glancing behind him and out the door, Blossom could see two more figures on horses near the front door. Upon closer inspection, she was able to determine that the man on the dapple-gray horse was Boomer, and the other figure on the massive black horse was in fact Butch.

She looked back at Brick, cocking an eyebrow at him. "I thought you said that the three of you didn't come into town?" she asked. Brick sighed as he rubbed his temples. "We don't, but when they heard I was heading over here, they instated on coming themselves." He explained.

"And they would like to see my sisters I'm assuming?" Blossom asked. Brick nodded in conformation. "I'm sorry if its out of the blue, I told them to wait at home and call on them another time, but they don't necessarily listen to me."

Blossom waved him off as she moved away from the door and back toward the grand staircase. "It's alright, I don't see the harm in them coming along with us. I don't think we had anything planed for today anyways, and it would be nice to go into town for a little bit." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, just as she was about to call for her sisters. "You know, you can invite them in it you would like – it's still rather cold out there. I would hate for them to freeze." Brick chuckled and shook his head. "How very kind of you – I wouldn't worry about them though… the cold doesn't bother us. It never has, they'll be fine."

Blossom nodded before turning her head up towards the second floor. "Bubbles? Buttercup? Can you both come down here for a moment?" she called up. It was quite for a moment before the sound of light footsteps were heard heading towards the grand staircase. A few seconds later, both Bubbles and Buttercup appeared. Trotting down the staircase, both girls stopped before their older sister. Buttercup raised a questioning brow at the pair of red-heads in front of her. "Everything alright?" She asked, giving her sister a once over. Blossom nodded, dismissing her concerns.

"How would the two of you feel about going into town for a few hours?" She asked. Bubbles nodded with a smile. "That sounds like a nice idea! We haven't been in a little while, and I'd like to explore the shops some more!" Buttercup on the other hand, shot her older sister a knowing smirk. "What? Need us to chaperone?" She teased, casing Blossom to flush.

"I-its not like that!" She protested feebly. "Brick offered and well… His brothers are kind of here as well-"

At the mention of his brothers, Buttercup's eyes darkened and she scowled, meanwhile Bubbles perked up farther. "Oh, is Boomer here?" Bubbles inquired hopefully. "Oh great, if he's here and you're here-" Buttercup gestured to Brick. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say Butch is here as well?"

Brick stifled a laugh at the ravenette disinterest. "Yes, both of my brothers are here." In confirmed. "Though I must admit that Butch is very keen to see you. He heard that you were ill and he wanted to make sure that you were alright last week, but he was… still recovering from a fever himself."

Blossom was taken back to the last time that she had been over the Jojo estate – how she had noticed how Butch was so eager to see Buttercup, and how he had been restrained by Boomer. She had found it odd how eager the dark-haired man had been to see her sister, but hadn't thought much of it at the time, simply chalking it up to be that he was concerned about her well being.

She nudged Buttercup in the ribs, getting a small grunt out of her sister. "Don't be so grouchy." She chided, "He was really concerned about you when I told him you were ill. You should find it flattering that he cares that much." She chuckled.

"Yeah but-"

"So are we all going into town together?" Bubbles interrupted excitedly.

"That was the plan yes… if you two are up for it that is." Brick responded with a sly smile.

"Well I think that it sounds like a fine idea!" Bubbles stated cheerfully as she bounced over to the coat rack. "The six of us can grab lunch and look around the town for a bit, wont that be nice?" she asked as she eyed Buttercup from the corner of her eye – knowing full well that her older sister wouldn't deny her of something that she wanted. Sure enough Buttercup let out a long, drawn out groan, and moved to grab her coat from the coat rack as well.

Throwing over her shoulders she sighed. "It'll only be for a couple of hours, right leader girl?" Blossom sent her a small nod. "Just a few. It's still quite cold out there." Buttercup sighed. "Fine, just for a few hours then." Turning towards Bubbles, she shot the blonde girl a pointed look. "You owe me."

"What? Butch doesn't bite-"

"Ahem?" Buttercup snapped, raising a dark brow, causing Bubbles to flush.

"Well… I mean, aside from _that_ one incident-"

"Alright, let's not keep the boys waiting any longer then. God knows they've been out there for long enough." Blossom intervened as she yanked her coat off of the coat rack.

"Mama?" she called back into the manor. " _Yes Blossom?"_ her mother voice called back from farther inside the manor. "Bubbles, Buttercup and I are heading into town for a little while." Blossom informed her. " _Oh that's nice dear? Are you going to meet some one?"_ Sara asked.

"No, we're going into town with the Jojo's." Blossom called back, wincing slightly as she predicted her mother's response.

Her mother was silent for a few seconds before responding. " _Alright, please be back before dark – I'll let your father know."_

Blossom beamed. "Thank you mama! We will!" turning back around, she nodded to the others. "Let's go." She smiled as she gently brushed past Brick to open the door, stepping out into the chilly winter winds.

She gently walked towards where Butch and Boomer were sitting atop their respective mounts. Both turned their heads to grin at her. "Bloss, how are you doing?" Butch smirked at her as she approached. Blossom sent him a weak grin as she eyed his horse wearily. "I'm doing alright Butch. Yourself?"

"I'm-" Butch faltered as he noticed Buttercup and Bubbles tailing their sister along with Brick. He ginned wider. "-Doing a lot better now that Butters is here." He finished was a grin that was too big for his face. Sliding off his saddle he immediately strutted over to the dark-haired woman, who immediately groaned upon seeing him.

Ignoring the scene the green's were causing, Blossom turned her attention towards Boomer, whom she offered a gentle smile to. "and Boomer, how are you doing?" Boomer glanced down to see the smiling auburn haired woman, and returned her smile politely. "I'm doing well Blossom, thank you." He responded kindly. Peering over the top of her head, he smiled slightly as he noticed Bubbles walking towards them with a bright smile on her face. "I see you convinced your sisters to accompany us?"

"Bubbles was the one who wanted to come." Blossom laughed airily. "It's Buttercup who didn't, but she can't say no to Bubbles."

"Who can?" Boomer mumbled lowly, as he sild off his mount to greet the stunning blonde, who greeted him just as ecstatically. Blossom smiled gently at the sight – the two blondes were sweet together. Out of all three of the Jojo brothers, Blossom could easily say that Boomer was the one who intimated her the least – and acted like nothing less then a gentlemen to her baby sister, which made her like him even more.

Moving over towards the large chestnut coloured horse, she gently stroked the animals nose as she felt Brick's presence come up behind her. "I'm going to assume this is your horse." Brick nodded. "Vulcan." He smiled as he patted the the large chestnut stallion. Blossom chuckled. "I remember seeing you ride him – back when you rescued my sisters and I from your last… groundskeepers. What did they call themselves again? The Amoeba Bro's? Where exactly did they go again?" she asked.

Brick paused. "They were… incompetent." He finally got out after a moment. "Their services were no longer needed and they were terminated… permanently." He hid his face from the rose eyed woman so she couldn't see the twisted grin that threatened to crawl up his face.

Blossom nodded. "I wont lie – I wasn't very found of them. And now it would appear that you have new help. What was his name again…? Ace? I believe?" she mumbled as she continued to stroke the horses nose.

Brick clenched his fist at the mere mention of the name. "Yes… that's right. He mentioned to us that he had run into you three the last time you were in town?"

"Yes, he managed to save Buttercup from breaking a bone on some ice." Blossom confirmed. After a slight pause, she quietly admitted. "If I may be honest with you… he

Brick scowled. "He wasn't my first pick, nor was he my second for that matter – hell I didn't even pick him. It was Butch's idea."

"Butch's?" Blossom asked disbelievingly. "I got the impression from the first time we met Ace that the two didn't like each other very much… Why would he bring him to your estate?"

"Let's just say that… he owes my brother some favors and leave it at that." Brick responded smoothly. "Those two have some bad blood, but Butch is… willing to forgive him if he acts as our grounds-keeper. If you can't tell, the front and back gardens are in some desperate need of some maintenance, it falls into disrepair quite fast if no one looks after it." The auburn-haired woman nodded. "I've noticed. It's… kind of your brother to give him a second chance though."

"Trust me, he didn't want to – he couldn't find anyone else competent enough." Brick muttered sullenly as he rubbed Vulcan's neck, casting a glance over towards his younger brother, where he had stridden up to Buttercup with open arms, much to her chagrin.

"Butterbabe, I've missed you! Are you feeling better sweetheart?"

"Fine, and stop calling me those things!" Buttercup wailed as Butch loomed over her, the massive grin still prominent on his face.

"Harsh pet, what happened to that little minx back in the barn huh? I miss her-"

"I was only playing you to get information!" Buttercup protested, as the barrel-chested man took her hand and led her back over to his horse. "and I told you what I know." Butch chuckled lightly.

"You didn't answer half my questions!" Buttercup snapped, as she managed to jerk herself out of his grasp with an angry snarl, only to feel her back collide into something warm and solid. Turning around, she found herself face to face with Ares, Butch's mount.

"Oh," she mumbled as she lowered her voice several notches. "Hello big guy, I remember you." She said fondly as she reached up to stroke the massive stallion's ears with one of her hands. "Ares, right?" she asked, casting a quick look over her shoulder at Butch. He nodded with a slight grin. "Yes ma'am, looks like he remembers you too." He chuckled as he watched the black stallion nudge Buttercup's free hand with his nose.

The tall woman let out a small laugh at the animal's antics, before narrowing her eyes at the man behind her. "Speaking of the barn… you said you'd take me riding. I haven't ridden for a while and I don't want to get rusty – so when is that happening?"

"How do you think we're getting into town?" Butch shot back with a cheeky smirk. Buttercup paled.

"Oh no. Hell no. I'm not riding with you – that just gives you an excuse to-"

"Well unless you'd like to walk into town then be my guest, but that's a good fifteen minutes away by horse, and walking takes twice as long, so unless you'd like to freeze, then I won't stop you, but I'm pretty sure that you'd rather-"

" _Fine."_ Buttercup groaned as she continued to rub Ares ears. "I get the reins though."

"Fine by me, I'll sit behind you and make sure you don't fall off-"

"Keep your hands above my hips or I'll cut them off."

"Oh HO feisty! I like that!"

Bubbles rolled her eyes as she heard the pair of charcoal haired adults start to bicker again. Smiling at Boomer, who was walking towards her, she cheerfully greeted him with a bright smile and a wave. "Hello Boomer!" She called to him, watching his face break out into a small grin at the sight of her. Stopping directly in front of her, he gave her a slight bow. "Bubbles, how are you on this fine day?" he asked her politely as he straitened up, his dark blue eyes fixed on her sky-blue ones.

Bubbles gave him a small shrug. "I can't really complain – only that it's freezing cold out here." She let out an airy laugh as she guested to the cold winter winds that were swirling around them.

Boomer cocked an eyebrow at her statement. "Really? You look like you're all bundled up though." He nodded to her long winter dress and thick down coat. "If the winds weren't so strong I'd be fine." Bubbles giggled. "But I'm tough, I'll live – you look like you're quite warm yourself." She nodded to his own winter coat, riding gloves and thick blue wool scarf that was wrapped securely around his neck.

"Yes, a little too warm actually." The blonde man replied with a laugh. "Are you sure that you'll be alright to come into town? We'll probably be doing a lot of walking outside-"

"Don't you worry about me, I'll be just fine!" Bubbles brushed off the taller man's concerns, "I really do want to go into town – my sisters and I haven't been at all since before-" she cut herself off as she swallowed thickly, prompting Boomer to raise another brow. "Before…?" he prompted gently.

"Before the last attack…" Bubbles whispered, subconsciously, clutching at her bitten arm that was concealed underneath her clothing. The small action didn't go unnoticed by Boomer, and his eyes rapidly began to dilate as everything suddenly fell into place in his mind.

 _The girl's high-pitched scream rang in his ears as he bit down hard on her arm, blood welling up from the deep gashes, sending his senses into overdrive as a feral growl escaped his jaws. Her screams turned into sobs as he released her, watching as she cradled her damaged arm. Her hair – which was as bright as the sun – was spread around her head on the snow like a halo…_

 _The girl from the forest… it was her._ He thought to himself wildly. _It was her all along…_

Forcing down his feral instincts that were quickly rising to the surface, he offered her a false look of concern. "Yes I heard… Those beasts completely slaughtered those hunters, didn't they?"

Bubbles winced at his choice of words. "One could say that." She muttered as she looked away, letting her arm drop. "They… killed those poor men… I'm so grateful that Mitch made it out alive…"

 _So, Mitch was still alive after all_. Boomer thought to himself. His healed leg seemed to sing with pain at the thought of the deadly hunter. It had taken five full days – almost twice the amount of time for normal wounds to heal on them – but the bullet wound had _finally_ closed over, leaving him with an ugly, shiny scar on his thigh. The ocean orbed man smirked grimly. When he encountered Mitch – and he had a feeling that it would be _very_ soon – he'd have to ask him about it…

Before he died, that is.

He shook his head. It really was a shame – aside from the girls, he and his brothers didn't really know any of the children in Townsville growing up, but they had encountered Mitch several times, before he moved away. Granted, they hadn't been close by any means, but at least he hadn't called them all of the horrid names that most of the townsfolk had…

But, his oldest brother saw him as a threat, and wanted him dead, so it would have to be done – even if he didn't necessarily want to do it. He didn't know what kind of plan Brick had cooking up for the him, but if one thing was certain it was this: Mitch Michelson would not be on this earth for much longer.

No, Mitch wouldn't be alive for much longer…

Boomer shook himself out of his reprieve. He'd deal with that issue when they came to it. For now, he would simply enjoy the calm before the storm.

"Ohhh, Boomer is this your horse? He's _gorgeous!"_ Bubbles gasped delightedly as she walked up towards the dapple-gray horse. Boomer stifled a laugh at her enthusiasm as he guided her over. "Yes my lady, this is Thor." He grinned. "I thought you might like him, so I suggested that we ride over here so you could see the horses. I know I didn't get to show you them last time, so I figured that this would make up for it."

"Oh it does!" Bubbles gasped as she preoccupied herself with stroking the stallion's large head. "What about that other two?"

"Well, the dark chestnut one is Vulcan – that's Brick's, and the black one with the massive hooves is Ares – he's Butch's." he nodded to both horses. "I've ridden Vulcan a few times, but never Ares – that horse as a huge temper, kind of like Butch actually. Doesn't let anyone else ride him, though he seems to be pretty found of your sister." He nodded over to when Buttercup was rubbing the stallions dark head, before shaking his own.

"He was specially bred for him you know? He's a mix between a Clydesdale and a Friesian – both very powerful breeds. Butch has always been insanely strong, and he wanted a challenge, so dad bought Ares, and Butch was the one who trained him. I trained Thor myself, but he's pretty relaxed compared to Ares."

"What kind of breed is Thor?" Bubbles asked as the steed leaned into her touch, "He's awfully big." Boomer grinned as he rubbed the horse ears fondly. "Mix between a Shire and a Lipizzaner, Vulcan is a cross between an American Quarter and a Norman Cob."

"I've never even heard of mix breeds like that." Bubbles admitted. "But Clydesdales, Shires and Cobs are all breeds of draft horses if I remember correctly, so that would explain why they're so big!" she giggled as she wrapped her arms around the horse's broad neck.

"Cleaver girl." Boomer praised her gently. "They were all specially bred for us, so I'm not surprised that you don't know them."

"and we can ride them into town?" Bubbles asked hopefully. "That was the plan." Boomer grinned as he extended a hand. "Are you ready-"

"Is everyone ready to go? We're losing daylight." Bricks voice cut across their conversation as he hosted Blossom up on the large chestnut horse. "Yeah we're ready I think." Butch confirmed as he gave Buttercup a boost before sliding in behind her. "So long as Sunshine here doesn't kill us both, I'm good."

"No, I'll just make sure Ares bucks _you_ off!"

"Easy pet, let's not startle him."

Boomer rolled his eyes as the pair of dark haired adults got into another spat. Turning around, he winked at Bubbles. "Shall we?"

* * *

 **Bellum manor**

"Girls?" John called as he scoured the house, looking for his daughters. "Girls? Where are you? I… I need to speak with you about something."

"John?"

Sara's voice made the older man turn in the direction of his wife, who had just come out of the bathroom. "Oh, Sara my love, do you know where the girls are? I have to speak with them about something very important."

At the mention of the girls, Sara looked slightly uncomfortable. "They're not here right now." She informed him levelly. John cocked his head to the side as he looked around the manor. "I assumed that, considering I've been calling for them for the past ten minutes and not a single one of them responded. Do you know where they are?"

Sara folded her hands in front of her and let out a small sigh. "…With the Jojo boys." She murmured softly. John paled and almost choked as the words left his wife's mouth. "W-WHAT?" he squeaked, as he struggled to regulate his breathing.

"Now. Don't panic," Sara said, as she held out her hands in front of her. "I made them promise that they would be back before sundown… I think all three boys might have been here actually. I couldn't just say no."

At that, John went as white as a sheet. "A-all _t-three_?" he shuddered, "All _three_ were here? In the town? In _DAYLIGHT?!"_ Sara winced as her husbands voice rose an octave.

"Yes? Listen darling, I know you don't… practically _like_ them for whatever reason, but they are kind to our daughters, and they have known them since children, so I figured it would be alright for them to go on an daytime outing with them. …Can I ask why it is that you find it so odd that they came here in the daytime? That's when most normal people visit." Sara asked.

"Yes, most _normal_ people darling, _they_ are not _normal."_ John wheezed. Sara shot him an irritated look. "John, I know you're not fond of them, but that's rather impolite. They're good to our daughters, and that's all I'm concerned about."

"Of course they're good to our daughters!" John nearly wailed, "That's because they-" At that moment, a small memory from that back of his mind resurfaced, causing John paused in the middle of his frantic worrying.

" _Daddy, daddy look!"_

" _Hrm? What is it sweetheart-"_

 _There were his daughters… standing in the doorway of the lounge that he and Mojo were sitting in… holding the hands of… three boys… three boys that where_ not _supposed to be there. He didn't have to look behind him to know that Mojo was just as shocked to see them… out of the basement._

" _You didn't tell us you had sons Mr. Mojo!"_

" _Daddy? Why were they in the basement?"_

" _Why are they shirtless papa?"_

 _His daughter's questions bombarded him all at once, but for once he didn't have an answer for them. All he could do was stare at the three boys' who were tightly gripping onto his daughter's hands – not looking at him or Mojo, but instead, focusing intently on them._

 _The_ look _that those… boys, were giving his daughters was unnerving. He had never seen a child stare at another person so intently… or possessively._

" _I… I… What have you done-"_

 _All three boy's heads snapped toward him at once, and he was silenced. Never had he seen such feral_ rage _and_ hate _in a child's eyes before._ _But they weren't normal children… were they?_

 _The down-right_ evil _look that the one boy with the searing blood red eyes was giving him would haunt him until the day he died however-_

 _Mojo brushed past him with open arms and a grin that was too big for his face, as he moved to hug his 'sons.'_

" _Yes, yes, these are my sons, why are you shirtless boys? That is no way to be around young ladies! Come my boys lets get you cleaned up!"_

 _The three had simply stared at Mojo before he finally managed to pry them away from the girls, and quickly ushered them upstairs, leaving him and his daughters alone._

" _Daddy? Why were they down in the basement?" his youngest asked, but he couldn't hear her._

 _All he could see were those blood red eyes…_

 _Eyes… Blood red eyes… he had seen those eyes before somewhere… but where…_

John was snapped back to the present with a gasp as his mind threw him back into the night of the Gypsy massacre – when he had come face to face with the beast itself.

Those eerie, crimson red eyes looked at him with some much hate… so much rage… the beast's eyes narrowed into silts as it let out an ear-splitting roar and lunged at him-

"John!"

John was thrust back into the present at Sara's worried call. His dark eyes met her concerned green ones as she snapped her fingers in his face – trying to get him to focus on her. When she was certain he was paying attention to her, she dropped her hand with a tired sigh.

"John, what is going on with you?" she whispered. "I thought you were having a breakdown… I'm temped to make a call to the psychiatric ward, and get you in for a check up… you've been on the edge for the past month… I'm really worried about you-"

"No, no I don't need to go there, I'm fine Sara perfectly fine." John interrupted as he reached into his pant pocket to squeeze Eugene's silver medallion.

"We need to get the girls back here immediately… I… I need to… discuses a few things with Mojo… yes… a few things indeed…"

* * *

 **Townsville Center**

"WHAT DID I SAY?"

"I don't know woman, what did you say?"

"HANDS ABOVE MY HIPS!"

"They are though!"

"I KNOW WHERE YOU'RE HOLDING ON TO ME BUTCH. HANDS UP."

"Alright, fine, fine, jeez… you know, ladies everywhere would be breaking their necks for me to hold them like this..."

"I'm not like most woman!" Buttercup snapped as she gently jerked the reins, steering Ares into town, after dapple gray horse that Boomer and Bubbles were riding on, Brick and Blossom pulling up the rear.

"I know!" The lime eyed woman didn't need to turn around to see the smug grin on the powerful man's chiselled face. "That's what I like about you! You're full of spice!"

Buttercup stifled a groan. She could understand why other woman would want him to hold them low around the hips like he was currently – he was extremely attractive after all. It really was a shame that he was so arrogant…

She threw her elbow back and grinned as she felt it connect with his diaphragm. Tossing him a look over her shoulder, she sent him a smug grin. "Thank you for the compliment. Now keep your hand above my hips for the rest of the ride."

"Sure, sure, just keep your eyes in front of you babe. Don't steer Ares into a wall."

"My god, they never quit." Blossom muttered from behind Brick as she watched her obsidian haired sister engage in yet another banter with Butch. "Why does he enjoy riling her up so much?"

"He gets a kick out of it." Brick replied with a snort. "Believe it or not, but this is sort of his way of showing that he actually really cares about her."

"He has a… peculiar way of showing it." Blossom muttered as she adjusted her arms around his mid-section. "You're not the first one to say that." Brick informed her with a half smirk. "But arguing? Little fights like the ones they get into, are the way he shows that he's interested in a person, and that he cares about them with ever really… saying it, if you understand what I mean."

"I suppose…" Blossom sighed, "Buttercup hates it though."

"On the contrary, she's engaging him." Brick laughed, as he steered Vulcan into the towns open barn – where the horses were kept out of the cold while their owners did their shopping – after their siblings. "She's giving him all the attention that he wants, so it's spurring him on. He _does_ know when enough is enough though, don't worry about them."

Stopping the large horse outside of an open stall, he dismounted and helped Blossom down as well, before leading Vulcan into the empty stall, as Butch and Boomer did the same with their mounts. Locking the stall up behind him, he offered a hand to Blossom who took it after a moments pause, and walked out of the barn, only to find their siblings waiting for them.

"Right, so now that we're all here, what's the plan?" Boomer asked. "Are we staying together or splitting up?"

"I don't care either way." Butch grinned wolfishly as he tugged Buttercup closer to him by her waist. "If we split up, I can get some alone time with Butterbabe-"

"We're staying together." Buttercup stated flatly.

Brick shrugged. "Fine by me, we can just walk around in the meantime and possibly grab some lunch later. It's been a while since my brothers and I were all in town together."

Bubbles noticed that Buttercup shot the red orbed man a strange look as the words left his mouth, but choose to ignore it as she laced her arm through Boomer's, and took the lead once again, urging the remaining four adults to follow them. The four did so with a bit of grumbling from Buttercup, but she trudged after the pair of blondes regardless.

Blossom chuckled at her dark-haired sisters disgruntled disposition, as she pulled her fan out from out of her sleeve and flipped it open and began to fan herself despite the winter winds that were blowing about. The action didn't go unvoiced by Boomer, who shot the rose orbed woman a puzzled look as he jutted his chin out at the fan in her hand.

"How are you fanning yourself out here Blossom? Its below freezing weather! Are you warm?"

"Oh no Boomer, don't you worry about me. The could has never bothered me much." Blossom laughed at the blonde man's baffled expression.

"Yeah, because she's always freezing so she doesn't feel the cold like normal people do." Buttercup chimed in. "Also, she really likes that fan!" Bubbles added with a grin, sending both sisters into quiet snickers, causing Blossom to flush.

"Well I mean… I just-"

"Don't worry about it." Brick chimed in with a slight smirk. "I think your antics are endearing… as odd as they are." He finished with a laugh, watching as Blossom's face burned crimson.

"You lot are impossible." She muttered as she fanned herself more rapidly.

"You're only just figuring this out _now_ pinky?" Butch spoke up from the back beside Buttercup – said woman giving him a swift elbow to the ribs for his comment, causing the barrel-chested male to let out a muffled " _Omhf!"_ as her elbow jabbed his side.

"You know, your elbows are pretty boney – its like someone is stabbing me in-between the ribs with a butter knife or something-"

"Do you ever stop?!"

Blossom and Brick both simultaneously groaned as the combative green eyed adults were thrown into another light argument – Buttercup doing most of the arguing, while Butch simply laughed at her reactions as he gently laced his arm with hers. Buttercup huffed and looked away, but Blossom noticed that she didn't move her arm away from him – Too warn out, she assumed.

Not wanting be behind her sisters for the entire trip, Blossom increased her pace and gently tugged Brick along by the hand, until they were at the front of the group. Brick looked down at their interlaced hands with a devious smirk as he was pulled in front of Boomer and Bubbles.

Casting a dark grin behind him, he locked eyes with Butch and Boomer who sent him curious looks in return. Brick grinned a sharp-toothed smile as he nodded towards Blossom and winked.

 _Watch and learn boys._

Adopting a deep sultry look, he gently began to stroke Blossom's long auburn hair, as to grab her attention. He felt Blossom stiffen under his touch, and fan herself more rapidly, causing a dark smile spread across his face at her discomfort. His voice dropped an octave, as he bent down slightly to speak to the stunning girl beside him in hushed tones.

"So… about my… offer-" he began.

"I… I'm still thinking about it!" Blossom whispered back quickly as she cast a glance over her shoulders, only to see that her sisters weren't paying attention to their hushed conversation.

"I… I still have to speak to my mother and father about it – well I mean, _you_ do, but I-"

"You know, the choice is ultimately going to come down to you." Brick informed her with a devious glint in his eye. "Unlike most, you can actually have a say in who you choose to marry. Especially if it's to a lord like me. After all, you _are_ at that age."

Blossom remained silent as she mulled the fact over in her mind. He _did_ have a point, but still, her father had made it very clear that he didn't want her or her sisters to marry _anyone_ from Townsville. She honestly didn't know what to do… Did she even _want_ to marry him? She wasn't so sure of herself. Certainly they would have to spend more time together before she made any decisions, but… She truly didn't know what to say…

Brick noticed her hesitation and let out a low chuckle, grabbing her attention again. She looked up at him, only to see him smiling wolfishly at her – he still was playing with her hair, she noticed with a light flush.

 ***** "My dear I know you don't have an answer for me yet but at least allow me a token? Something to show I still have hope?"

"... Like... What Mister Jojo...? Need I remind you we are in public and any case of public display of any sort would be grossly inappropriate." Blossom murmured as she frantically fanned herself in a desperate attempt to hide the blush that was rapidly spreading across her lightly freckled cheeks.

"Heaven Forbid I cause you any sort of discomfort Blossom."

" Then cease attempting to touch my hair at once- Brick! Give that back at once!" Blossom shrieked as she felt Brick boldly tug the slender pink ribbon that held her hair back. Waving it teasingly in front of her face, he ginned wolfishly at her.

"Something simple as this would be enough for me- allow me the privilege of carrying this ribbon about me." Blossom paused her attempts at retrieving her hair ribbon to frown in confusion at his odd request.

"... And where do you intend on keeping it Master Jojo... Pink is hardly your color."

"How about here." Brick grinned as he patted his breast pocket. "Right next to my heart."

Blossom began to frantically fan herself as she thought about offer for a moment, before she backed away from the crimson eyed man and turned away from him with a slight no of confirmation not before Brick was able to catch a glance at her red stained cheeks.

Brick threw a triumphant smirk behind him – taking gleeful pleasure in seeing both Butch and Boomer glower at him angrily, as they were overshadowed by their older brother. *****

"Yeah, yeah, I've seen enough. Oi, Boomer? What do you say that we take the girls the main plaza and the city square?" Butch barked. Boomer nodded his agreeance. "Anything to get away from the saps." He was rewarded with a few snickers from the green and blue eyed Utonium sisters, while Blossom flushed a deep crimson. Brick rolled his blood red irises at his younger brothers as he took Blossom's arm in his own.

"Why don't we all go to the main plaza together and then split up then?" he suggested, his proposal receiving nods from the rest of the group. The six then managed to trudge into the center of Townsville square. A few older men and woman were loitering about in the square, standing just outside the shop doors, but most were moving inside to escape the biting winds.

The moment they walked into the middle of the plaza, the few people that where out side quieted immediately upon seeing them. Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles notice the change in the atmosphere immediately, and shot pointed looks at the Jojo brothers, who purposely avoided their curious glances.

"Well… they certainly got quite all of the sudden." Bubbles murmured, in an attempt to start conversation. "Yes, but why though?" Buttercup muttered sourly, as she glanced around at the silent townspeople, who were looking at the six young adults.

"It's probably because of us." Boomer muttered as he gestured to himself and his older brothers. "We weren't lying when we said that we hardly come into town."

"But why are the looking at you like… that?" Blossom whispered as she noticed an older man, wrinkle his nose and look away from the three powerful men. "They're scared of us." Butch responded nonchalantly as he shot an unkind grin in the direction of the man, who scurried away into a nearby shop. "We don't exactly have the best history with the town."

"Why is that?" Buttercup asked hesitantly. Butch simply grinned at her and Buttercup suppressed a shudder as she saw that his teeth seemed… sharper.

She shook her head in disbelief. _No, they couldn't have been sharper… it was just a trick of the light._ She told herself as she risked another look at them, only to find his teeth looking white and normal – not at all pointed like they had a moment ago.

Buttercup frowned inwardly. _No, pointed wasn't the right word. They looked similar to…._ Fangs.

The thought made her stomach clench as she thought back to the time Butch had sunk his teeth into her arm when they were children. Come to think of it, his teeth had seemed oddly sharp then too…

"Well Brick here doesn't exactly meet the norm for eye colour around these parts." Butch chuckled sarcastically, pointing to his older brother. "It doesn't help that this town is also filled with religious fanatics, who made a great deal of labelling Brick a 'demon' and myself and Boomer 'demons by association' or some absolute shit like that." He grinned demonically, as he pointed in the direction of the towns church. "If you want my personal opinion, I think that they're all brainwashed honestly. It takes a sick bunch of people to call three little kids demons."

He fell silent for a moment before continuing. "We didn't go into town very much after that. It ruined our opinions of the town. Naturally, they weren't very inclined to call us demons as we got older, after all – we're a far bit taller and stronger then the majority of the male population here if you haven't noticed, but we still had no intentions of going into town if we could avoid it – which is why we've always have the help go into town and pick up we need."

"Ah… right… I think we had encounter with your… New help." Buttercup muttered. "He's… interesting?"

Butch snorted, looking down at her. "He's an ass, but he owes me." He looked at all three of the sisters seriously. "Seriously, if you encounter him, and he tries to pull anything with you three, don't hesitate to let me know. He's not exactly a good person." He warned them.

 _But then again, neither are we._ Butch thought darkly to himself, before pushing the thought to the back of his mind. As Butch fell silent, Boomer spoke up. "So, shall we head for the center and see if anything worthwhile is open?" he asked, breaking the unhappy silence that had fallen over the group with the insight that Butch's story had provided him with.

"I think that's a good idea." Bubbles supplied quietly. "If anything else, it's a nice walk."

Slowly, the six made their way toward the center of the town. Once they arrived there, they began to aimlessly walk around, observing the shop windows and the frozen fountain in the middle of the shops center. Out of the corner of her eye Blossom noticed a small group of young men around their age, leering at her and her sisters from across the way.

She let a small groan out as she and her sisters moved closer toward them. She wasn't in the mood to deal with unwanted male attention – if she was honest with herself, it made her deeply uncomfortable and nervous, as she truly had no idea of how to deal with it – but she had her sisters with her, so it was unlikely that they would try anything. Besides, if they did pull something, they _did_ have the boys with them, she reassured herself. The thought calmed her nerves slightly, and made her feel more confident. With her head held high, she moved past them with elegance and grace, not bothering to make eye contact with any of them as she and her sisters past.

A few whistles and cat-calls were heard from the group of young men as the girls passed, only for one man in particular to let out a long whistle as Buttercup passed him. The furious look she shot him, was nothing compared to the furious outburst from Butch however.

"THE HELL ARE YOU STARING AT? IT BETTER NOT BE BUTTERCUP. I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM-"

"BUTCH! Silence! You're embarrassing me!" Buttercup hissed frantically as she dragged the enraged man away – his yells fading into the distance as he was forcibly dragged away from the rest of the group, causing the group of young men to scatter in a panicked frenzy, and the greens remaining siblings to stare disbelievingly in the direction that they had taken off in.

"Your brother... really likes my sister... doesn't he…?" Bubbles whispered as she tugged on Boomer's sleeve. "He's quite infatuated with her yes" Boomer admitted as he linked his arm through hers. "But... I'm rather fond of you myself if you want the honest truth."

Bubbles's cheeks flushed a bright crimson that would have put Brick to shame, as she pulled him over to one of the nearby shops. "Let's just pretend we don't know them and keep moving." She joked as she walked side by side with the tall blonde man.

Meanwhile, Brick and Blossom looked around only to notice that they had been left alone by their siblings. Brick simply shrugged as he jerked his thumb in the direction opposite to where Boomer and Bubbles had taken off in. "Shall we go check out what's over here?" he asked, and Blossom nodded. "Might as well, we'll find our siblings later." She sighed as she allowed Brick to take her by the arm and lead her over to the other side of the center, but not before casting a worried glance in the direction that Butch and Buttercup had disappeared down.

 _I hope she knows what she's doing._ Blossom thought to herself tiredly, as she flipped open her fan and began to fan herself once again.

* * *

Buttercup dragged the slightly struggling Butch away from the group of men and their siblings and down one of Townsville's quieter streets. He had stopped yelling, but was still glaring back towards the spot that they had originally came from with a downright _murderous_ look on his face. Buttercup let out an annoyed huff, and pulled Butch into a nearby alleyway. Letting go of his arm, she glared furiously at him.

"What was all that about?" She snapped at the indifferent male. Butch snorted and crossed his arms in defiance. "Don't know what you're talking about." He muttered as he averted his gaze from hers.

"Like hell you don't." Buttercup snarled as she forced her way into his line of vision again. "Back there... that little scene you made? That was uncalled for."

"Actually, it wasn't." Butch growled as he finally met her piercing lime eyes with his own forest ones, "They don't have the right to stare at you like that. They don't have a claim on you."

"Well neither do you." Buttercup pointed out, causing a half grin to work its way up his face. "Oh, but I _do."_ He murmured, quieter then what she could hear. "I have more of a claim on you then you could possibly _imagine."_

His eyes flickered to her covered forearm. Hiding underneath her coat and dress sleeve was his mark. The bite he had given her so long ago – still as prominent as the day that he had given it to her. He fought back the sinister smirk that threatened to slide across his face. _She was his and only his… even if she didn't know it yet…_

Instead, he composed himself and shook his head. "You're right." He lied smoothly. "I don't… not _yet_ anyways."

Buttercup stiffened and backed away from his massive form. "What do you mean by that…?" She asked hesitantly. Butch only smirked. "Well remember that question that I asked you when we were re-introduced?"

Buttercup felt her eyes widen, and shook her head frantically. "No." she said firmly. "I don't care whether or not I'm available, that doesn't give you the right to try for my hand. Besides, my father said that he wouldn't let us marry from here-"

"Brick proposed to Blossom." Butch interrupted smoothly, not taking his eyes of her lean frame. "I assume that you and your sister know that already. Does daddy know?"

Silence.

Butch only chuckled. "I thought so. See, I happen to know that you and your parents can't leave Townsville until someone from your family can take over the manor for you. That means for now you're living here, which in turn, makes you residences of Townsville. It's like I said before Sunshine, here, because it's such a small town, most girls are married off by eighteen or so… But you're almost _twenty_ now aren't you? And since you're living here… it means that men from here _do_ have the right to seek your hand… including me. And from what I've been told, your daddy has been looking for suitors for you and your sisters for a while. I wonder how he would take to having my brother and myself seek you and your sisters out…"

"Don't you dare." Buttercup whispered. "I don't even want to get married… and who's to say that if I do, that I'd want to marry you?"

"For the same reason why Blossom hasn't rejected Brick's request." Butch chuckled as he laced his hands behind his head. "We are the perfect candidates. Young, wealthy, devilishly handsome-" He shot her a wink, taking delight in seeing her slightly tanned cheeks flush with a light red dusting.

"Your sister knows these things. And if she knows, then your father most definitely knows." The muscular ravenette argued. "What makes it even more perfect is that you know us. You wouldn't be marring some complete stranger Just think – you could be the Baroness of Townsville." He grinned darkly at her.

"Is this some sort of proposal?" Buttercup hissed as she backed away slightly. "I'll be honest with you – I can't tell. I couldn't tell what you were implying over dinner back at your home when we first arrived, and I still can't tell now-" The words died on her tongue Butch's intense gaze locked her in place. He said nothing for several long minutes before he let a loud sigh escape him.

"Not officially," He confirmed. "I certainly wouldn't propose in a dark alleyway in freezing weather." He grinned as she snorted. "-I'm just letting you know where we stand. I _do_ plan on proposing to you at some point - I wont bother trying to deny it, you're much too clever for that. I figured I would be a gentleman and tell you in advance."

"Well… Thank you, I suppose." Buttercup sputtered. "But I highly doubt I'd say yes." She flatly stated, much to Butch's astonishment.

"I'm sorry." She added quickly, upon seeing his baffled expression. "But we've only just come back here, two of my family members have been murdered within a month of each other-" Butch flinched at the statement, "…There are things that have the power to kill people running amuck in the forest, and we've only just met again for the first time in _years._ I honestly don't understand why the hell you would want to marry me. Same goes for your brothers to my sisters."

"Oh but Buttercup." Butch cooed sweetly as he closed the gap between them to play with some of her jet-black hair. "You and I have so much _history_ together. You just don't remember it. Maybe I should give you a little refresher-"

"I remember that you _bit_ me." Buttercup snarled as she slapped his hand away. "I don't know why you did that but I really don't think that a refresher is necessary-"

"Do you remember how we met?"

Buttercup paused as the question washed over her. Come to think of it, she didn't. She had assumed that they had know each other since infancy, but from the way Butch said it, it sounded as if he was implying that they had met a different way.

Instead she shook her head. "No. It was from so long ago, I can't say that I do." She replied honestly. "I assumed that we knew each other from when we were babies."

"Not quite." Butch responded as he went back to playing with her hair, much to her disdain. "We haven't known each other for that long. We actually met for the first time when we were about four." He informed her. Buttercup frowned, "We did?"

Butch nodded as he continued to play with her hair. "If you could remember how exactly it was that we met, you would understand why it is I want you as a wife."

"Well then by all means, give me a refresher." Buttercup muttered as she pulled the strands of hair out of the intimidating mans grasp. "It seems that my sisters and I are out of the loop more often then not these days. For once, I'd like to understand _something_ in this cursed place."

Butch looked at her for a moment in silence. In that moment all the pair could hear was the freezing winds howling around the spot they were in, just at that moment, the pale sunlight disappeared behind a cloud, shrouding the man's face in shadow.

He opened his mouth to responded before…

" _Butch! Buttercup! Where are you? Come on, we're leaving, it's starting to snow!"_

Butch shut his mouth again with a teasing smirk. "Well Sunshine, looking like we're going to have to save that conversation for another time. But don't you worry, you'll remember soon enough."

Buttercup suppressed the shudder that threatened to creep down her spine at his words. For some reason, they sounded more like a threat then a promise. He grinned down at her shuddering form and offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Buttercup eyed the offending arm with her mouth set in a grim line. Looking at it for a second more, she brushed past him and out of the alleyway, before dashing towards the sound of her sister's call, leaving Butch to stare after her with a sinister grin etched onto his face.

"Soon Butters… Soon you'll remember me. "

* * *

Bubbles shuddered as she pulled her coat closer to her thin frame as a particularly harsh gale of freezing air assaulted both her and Boomer – said man hardly flinching as the freezing winds blew over them.

Bubbles shook her head. "Honestly, does this weather really _not_ bother you?" she asked disbelievingly. Boomer sent her a cocky grin. "No, I actually freezing weather to be rather refreshing, if you want the truth." He told her with a laugh. His eyebrow rose as he took in her shuddering frame. "Are you cold?"

"Just a little." Bubbles managed to get out though chattering teeth. Boomer simply chuckled as he pulled off the thick wool scarf he was wearing, and wrapped it around her neck, oblivious to the girl's flustered protests.

"Oh no Boomer, that's really not necessary! I'll be fine – oh no, now you'll be cold-"

"Bubbles sweetie, the cold doesn't bother me like it does most people." Boomer interrupted with a barking laugh as he gently bopped her on the nose. "Don't worry about it. I'll survive."

"But… you and your brothers seem to get a horrible fever at least once a month." Bubbles protested gently as buried her face into the thick scarf. "I don't want you to come down with another one." Boomer tensed up as the statement left the blonde girl's mouth.

"F-fever?" He wheezed. "You've noticed…?" Bubbles nodded. "Mojo has mention that you and your brother's have been coming down with several fevers over the past few months, I just don't want you to get sick."

"The cold doesn't cause that…" Boomer muttered as he forced his muscles to unlock. "That's caused by… something else. It's a medical condition."

"Oh." Bubbles frowned as she glanced up at her companion. "Do you mind if I ask what it is?" Boomer shook his head with a small smile on his face as he looped his arm though hers. "It's not important. All you need to know is that it's not contagious in anyway. Its just something we were born with."

 _Something we were born with._

Bubbles stopped dead, and a strange feeling came over her as she let the words sink in. Something about the way he said the sentence made her insides turn uncomfortably. There was something else he meant by it – she was sure of it. She tried to focus on what her instincts were telling her, but they seemed to be just as confused as her – only filling her with an unsettling feeling.

Bubbles brushed it off as she linked her arm with Boomer's again. "Well, my father also studies medicine from time to time." She offered, "Maybe he could take a look at what you have and provide you with some medication for it – they're making all sorts of new discoveries back at home!" she smiled, only for Boomer to shake his head with a dark laugh.

"That's sweet of you to offer Bubbles, but what we have… it's not curable by medication."

There was an unsettling look in his ocean blue eyes as he tuned to face Bubbles. The slight girl, frowned and reached up to gently touch his cheek, suppressing a smile as Boomer leaned into her touch. "What do you have then-"

"Oh there you two are!" Blossom interjected as she rounded the corner with Brick by her side, casing the pair of blue eyed adults to pull away from each other quickly. "I'm glad we found you, it's starting to snow and it's getting quite dark. Remembered we promised mama that we would be back by suppertime?" Bubbles nodded with a slight blush on her face. "Where are Buttercup and Butch?" she coughed as she tried to calm down the pink tint on her cheeks, much to Boomer's amusement.

"I've been calling for them. I have no idea where they took off to after Buttercup dragged him away – thankfully you two didn't wander far off-"

"We're right here Bloss, we heard you."

Both auburn adults turned in the direction of the voice, only to see Butch and Buttercup appear out of a small road, near where Bubbles and Boomer had come from. As the tall, dark haired adults drew closer, both Bubbles and Blossom noticed that their raven-haired sister seemed… distressed, as she marched towards them. Butch fell back a few paces as he watched her move to stand beside her oldest sister.

"Are we leaving?" she asked quietly, prompting Blossom to nod. "It's getting dark, I think we should be getting back home so mama and papa don't worry." She responded, causing Butch to let out a groan. "Already? We just got here though."

"We have to go home as well Butch." Brick pointed out, folding his arms. "You know that the roads leading to the east get dangerous when the snow really starts to come down." He nodded up at the quickly darkening sky, as large snow clouds began to cover the already gray sky above – promising a decent snowfall that evening. Butch let out a sigh, watching as his breath turned into cloud of steam, before evaporating into the chilly air.

"I guess so – Butters, if you don't mind, I'll take the reins on the way home. I'm the only one who can make Ares actually canter-"

"Girls?"

A familiar voice came from behind Butch, prompting all six to turn around only to see-

"Mitch!?" The girls gasped upon seeing the tall brunet appear from behind Butch's broad form. He sent them a small wave as he shifted the package in his other arm. "In the flesh. How are the three of you this evening?"

"Fine!" Buttercup gasped as she moved forward to give the other man a quick hug. Brick and Boomer stared nervously at Butch as they watched their taller sibling clench his jaw and curl his hands into fists, as he muffled a low growl that threatened to escape his throat at the sight.

Mitch grinned at the stunning lime eyed girl, before lifting his head slightly to look at the three new men behind her. "Don't tell me-" he muttered as he forced a small grin onto his face, "You boy can't be the same Jojo's that I knew as kids can you? Brick, Butch and Boomer right?" he nodded at each of the men in turn, receiving small nods in response. Mitch then turned to playfully grin at the Utonium sisters. "Are you three on a date with them?" he asked them teasingly – laughing harder as he watched each of their faces burn red at his question.

"Hello Mitch, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" Brick asked with a cool smile on his face as he walked forward to shake the man's free hand. "We heard that you moved back into town temporarily, and let me tell you – my brothers and I have been _dying_ to meet you again." He chuckled as his lit up with malicious intent.

Mitch chuckled, unaware of the danger he was in as he let go of Brick's hand. "I've been wanting to pay they three a visit, believe me I have, but I've been a little bit busy taking care of the… problem, you have in your forest – Which, by the way," he added, peering over that the sisters, "Has the Professor told you anything about that yet?" he asked, as the three girls shook their heads. "Not yet." Blossom confirmed. "It has been about six days since you visited last time… You look much better by the way!" she added as she nodded at the fading cuts and claw marks on his face and arms. Mitch rolled his eyes. "Figures – if he doesn't tell you three anything tonight – come by my grandmother's house in town and I'll tell you myself." He promised. "and thank you for your concern Blossom, I told you I heal fast. The doctor here fixed me right up. You didn't need to worry."

"Yes… We heard all about your encounter with the beast in the forest." Brick murmured. "So sorry to hear about your hunting party. We heard you were the only one to make it out." He stated coolly, as he eyed the brunet from head to toe. "You should know that many hunters in the past have tried to trap and kill the beast, but they've all failed. Every single one has died… you're lucky to have escaped with your life."

Mitch nodded. "I was the only one yes, and I've head about the other hunters. I will admit that I was unprepared, but I'll be ready this time. These beasts are… cleaver, very cleaver I'll give them that – but I think I know what hurts them." He grinned proudly, causing Brick to raise an eyebrow.

"Beast _s?"_ he emphasised, "Interesting, I was lead to believe that there was only one." Mitch shook his head, as he beckoned the brothers closer. "No mates, there's _three_ he informed them in a whisper. "I can't come out and say what they are just yet – I'm leaving that particular detail up to the professor, but I will tell you that they are the most violent creatures I've ever come across, however…" he grinned as he held up the concealed package in his hand.

"I know what hurts them."

The boy's eyes widened at the confession. "Oh, is that so? Well by all means do share." He rumbled as Butch and Boomer nodded slowly. "Ah well, are you sure you want me to? I don't want to keep you if you're with the girls, they need to be getting home soon I'd imagine." Mitch stated.

"We're taking them home right after." Brick informed him. "But considering how my brothers and I live outside of Townsville and are surrounded by the woods, knowing how to take down theses… beasts… would be helpful in case they decide to make an appearance. We hear them all the time you know."

Mitch nodded as he beckoned them closer. "I haven't told anyone this aside from the professor just yet, but before I encountered the beasts, I was tipped off about something that might actually hurt them, seeing as how normal bullets don't do anything to them – trust me boys, I've seen these things get hit with buckshot at a close range – it does _nothing_ but piss them off." The brothers nodded, their eyes narrowing farther at the information Mitch was sharing with them. Mitch paused for effect before he murmured lowly, "My informant told me to try using _silver bullets-"_

The boys froze at the new piece of information, going almost completely white, as Boomer's hand absentmindedly went to touch his healed thigh.

"S-silver?" Brick coughed. "Silver bullets? Why would this person tell you to use _silver_ of all things?" he asked as his voice rose slightly.

"Well let's just say that they had a hunch, and they were right." Mitch muttered as he shifted the bag. "My other bullets did nothing to them. I shot one in the thigh, and you should have heard the _sound_ this thing made when it got hit-"

Boomer rubbed at his recently healed over thigh as she shadow passed over his face. _So it_ was _Mitch who had shot him all along… with_ silver _no less! No wonder the bullet had stuck out as shiny in his mind…_

 _And why it had burned so badly._

He narrowed his dark blue eyes at the brunette. "and who exactly told you to use silver bullets might I ask?" he rumbled, making a note to himself to personally find the unknown person and hunt them down himself. Mitch only shook his head. "I'm going to keep their identity a secret, for their own safety – I'm sure you understand."

"Oh yes… of course…" The dirty blonde replied coolly as he forced a small smile on his face. _Lucky Bastard… he's find them soon enough…_

"It was most fortunate that I met them when I did." Mitch added. "Otherwise I would most likely be dead. I owe them my gratitude. Now I have a better chance against these things. As soon as I drop this off at home, I'm going to head out into the forest for a bit before the sun completely sets – I plan on setting up a trap or two, next full moon is in a few weeks you know, that's when these things are the most active, and I want to be ready this time around."

"Oh trust us… we know _exactly_ when the next full moon is." Brick cut in with a forced grin that was too big for his face. "I just can't believe that you're actually going out there _again_. These creatures could never be trapped before… many people before you have tried…"

"You never told us what was in the bag." Butch suddenly spoke up gruffly as he nodded to the package in Mitch's arm. The lean man only grinned smugly at him as he shifted the package in his arm.

"I thought it was obvious – its my new arsenal of course. _Silver Bullets. 12 cases of them."_

The boys paled at the news as Mitch proudly went on. " _I just got the blacksmith here to melt down a ton of old silver and make them into bullets for me. The man must think I'm crazy, but he'll understand soon. Once the town know about what these creatures are, he'll understand why I need them-"_

The brothers tuned out the man's excited ramblings as they shot panicked looks at one another, that went unnoticed by Mitch. _There was no way that they would survive if they were shot repetitively by that much silver. Once was enough to cause mild irritation and a slight burning sensation to their skin. Twice, and it made them feel as though they're bodies were on fire. Three times, and it made them bleed copious amounts, and would most likely poison their blood – as for four times… well… they would probably be dead, or close to it._

They shot panicked looks between each other, not daring to say a word in front of the hunter. They didn't have to say anything however, as their panicked expressions said it all.

" _What the hell are we going to do about this? He'll_ kill _us with that much silver!"_

" _Brick, any brilliant plans? Mitch has to go. He has to."_

" _I'm thinking Butch, I'm thinking!"_

Suddenly, a truly horrible idea came to his mind, and a sly grin crossed over his face. His brothers shot him looks of confusion as Brick straightened up and smiled politely at Mitch. "Well, it certainly sounds like you'll have your hands full for the next while Mitch. Perhaps we can help you with something? We hear these creatures quite often around our neck of the woods, maybe at some point we can help you trap them."

Mitch looked at Brick surprised. "You'd like to help? Most people don't want anything to do with these things." Brick only shook his head. "We aren't like most people." He informed him. "These beasts have caused enough trouble as it is. The least we can do is offer our help… isn't that right? Butch? Boomer?" The green and blue eyed men gave hesitant nods in conformation.

Brick grinned. "How about this: we keep an eye out for them, and we report to you any activity around out area, or in places close to ours, that way you'll have a good indication on where to put your traps." Mitch thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"If you would be willing to do that, that would be a great help, thank you for offering!" he told them gratefully. "I would truly appreciate the help."

"Then it's settled, Butch, Boomer, you don't have any objections, do you?" Brick asked as he turned to face his brothers. Neither failed to catch the malicious glint in his searing crimson orbs though.

"No… None at all…" Butch muttered, still confused at the sudden turn of events.

"Excellent, well thank you then boys, once again I truly do appreciate it." Mitch informed them as he took a step back from them. "Well, its getting late, sorry to have kept you for so long, I suppose you'll be needing to take the girls home and get back yourselves."

"Yes, we should probably get to doing that." Brick agreed as he leaned forward to shake his hand firmly. "It was nice to see you again Mitch, if only briefly. Watch yourself out there."

Mitch nodded solemnly before looking past them to wave at the girls, who were hanging back. "Bye girls! Remember if your father doesn't say anything tonight, let me know and I'll tell you myself!"

"Goodbye Mitch!" The girls chorused. "It was nice to see you again, get home safe!" they called. Mitch chuckled lightly as he shot the boys another look before departing. "You keep them safe alright? This is a dangerous time."

"Oh trust us: we won't let _anything_ happen to them." Brick promised. "Nothing will get them so long as we're around." Mitch nodded. Sending the girls one last wave, he spun on his heel and took off in the opposite direction, leaving the boys alone.

"So… we're helping him now?" Boomer muttered lowly as they began to make their way back towards were the girls were waiting for them. Brick shook his head. "You'll see," he promised. "I have a plan." He assured them. Reaching the spot where the girls were, he smiled politely at them. "Sorry for keeping you three waiting, lets get you home, shall we?"

* * *

 **Bellum manor**

"Thank you for coming into town with us Blossom, I had a good day today." Brick rumbled as he offered his arm to Blossom as she slid off Vulcan's back from her spot behind him.

Blossom looked back up at him as she planed her feet on solid ground. "I had a good day as well… it was… one of the best since we got here if you want the honest truth." She admitted quietly. "It was almost normal."

Brick eyed the rose orbed woman from head to toe as he adjusted his grip on the reins.

 _Unfortunately my dear… normal has never been in the cards… for either of us._ He thought bitterly. Instead he smiled charmingly at her. "Well then, I suppose we'll have to do this again soon then?" he chuckled. Blossom offered him a half smile. "I wouldn't mind that. I know Bubbles enjoyed herself, and I know Buttercup had fun as well, but she'll never admit it."

Both cast looks over to where Buttercup had just slid off of Ares broad back, ignoring Butch's arm. Both watched as she refused to meet his eyes, as she murmured a quiet 'thank you' to the powerful man, before lifting the hem of her dark dress and taking off into the manor. Both watched as Butch opened his mouth to say something after her retreating figure, only for him to think better of it and close his mouth, opting to stare after her longingly.

Blossom frowned at the unnaturally quiet display that her normally loud and pound sister had showcased. She tuned back towards Brick with a questioning look. "She's been quiet ever since she came back with Butch. Do you know what they talked about?" she questioned. Brick shrugged. "Haven't a clue, I'll ask Butch when we get home." He promised. Blossom nodded, as she gave him a small curtsy.

"Well I thank you again for the day out Brick. It really helped to take my mind off some things." She murmured gratefully. As she turned to go, Brick's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"You know Blossom… I wont pester you for an answer to my question… but I would like an answer eventually." Blossom tossed him a look over her shoulder, only to see that his scalding red irises were burning into her own. She swallowed thickly as an uneasy feeling suddenly washed over her.

"I will give you one, I promise… but you really would need to talk it over with my father as well." She told him gently. "It's just proper I suppose. It's nice that I have the luxury to be able to have a say in a spouse, but I would like my father to be part of the process as well."

Brick nodded with a small frown. "Understandable. I suppose I'll have to meet with him at some point and discuss it." Blossom gave him another half smile. "Thank you Brick, I do appreciate it. Have a good evening, please be safe getting home."

Giving him a small wave she turned back in the direction of the manor after her middle sister, only to see Bubbles still talking with Boomer off to her left. Shaking her head with a soft smile, she called out to her baby sister. "Bubbles, it's time for the boys to go. They need to get home before more snow sets in! Say your goodbyes and come inside!" she said as she moved inside after Buttercup.

Bubbles cast a look over to were she saw her eldest sister disappear into the manor, casting a longing look up at Boomer she let out a small sigh as she stroked Thor's neck. "I supposes you should get going, it is getting dark…" she trailed off, as she wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck, only to realize-

"OH, this is yours! I'm sorry Boomer, you must be wanting this back-" Bubbles said frantically as she struggled to untie the dark blue scarf from around her neck. Boomer laughed as he reached down to place a hand on one of hers.

"Keep it, it looks better on you anyways." He laughed. "A-are you sure? It's getting dark and cold, and you still need to get home-" Bubbles flushed as she Boomer shot her a cheeky grin.

"I told you, I don't get cold, I'll be just fine. Think of it as a present of sorts from me." He chuckled gently. "Go inside before you freeze Bubbles, I'll be seeing you _very_ soon." he promised with a hidden grin.

Bubbles smiled bashfully up at the dirty blonde man. "Good night Boomer, travel safe… I hope we can do this again soon." She said sincerely as she began to make her way towards the manor's front steps. Boomer sent a sharp toothed grin after her as he muttered lowly under his breath, "Oh we will Bubbles… very soon indeed."

Casting a look at his older brothers, the three pulled on the reins of their respective mounts before taking off into the darkening air, and back towards the estate.

Bubbles watched them go from the foyers windows, as let a happy sigh escape her lips as she took off her boots. "Boomer is such a gentleman. He really is one of the nicest men that I have ever met!"

"Well I'm gad he is, because Butch sure as hell isn't." Buttercup muttered from her spot on the manors grand staircase as she watched her sister take off their boots – she, already having taken off her coat and boots before them.

"Language." Blossom scolded gently as she hung her coat up next to Buttercup's own. Shooting her dark haired sister a concerned look, she moved to sit next to her. "About him… you've been awfully… withdrawn, ever since you and he came back from wherever it was that you had took off to… what happened?"

"The same thing that happened to you with Brick." Buttercup groaned as she put her head in her hands, "He wants to marry me."

"WHAT! BUTTERCUP HOW WONDERFUL! CONGRATULATIONS-"

" _BUBBLES, be quiet!"_ Buttercup hissed sending her younger sister a venomous glare. "It's not wonderful, it's horrible! It explains why he's been acting so… aggressively lately… I don't want this… I don't even want to get married!"

"Well what did you tell him?" Blossom asked soothingly as she began to rub her distressed sister's back in an effort to calm her down.

"I told him no."

Blossom paused in the middle of rubbing Buttercup's back as both the red and blonde haired siblings stared at her.

"… and how did he take it?" Blossom asked after a moments pause. "I think he was too stunned to react." Buttercup muttered as she put her head on her knees. "I basically told him that finding a spouse was not the reason we came back here… Two of our family member's have been _murdered_ for Christ's sake! Finding a husband is the last thing on my mind."

She was quiet before adding, "I mean… he did bring up a few decent points that helped him actually make sense about the whole matter… but still… I'm not looking for a husband… even if it wasn't an 'actual' proposal', I don't even know if I would marry him-"

"What do you mean, it wasn't an 'actual proposal'?" Bubbles mimicked. "Did he ask you to marry him or not?"

"He did, but not officially." Buttercup groaned as she buried her head into her knees. "He said that he planned on asking me to marry him, but he said he wasn't going to do it right that second."

"Well that's… courteous of him I suppose." Blossom muttered, "Anything else?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Yes. When I asked him why on earth he would want me as a wife – seeing as how we've really only just met again for the first time in years – he said that… If I remembered how we officially met, that I would understand why he want's me as a wife."

An uneasy silence came over the girls as they fell silent, trying to decipher cryptic words. "How… How _did_ we meet them again?" Bubbles asked timidly. "I don't remember."

"That's a good question, because I don't either." Blossom admitted. "I thought we knew them since when we were all infants."

"See that's what I thought too." Buttercup admitted as she raised her head to look at her sisters. "Turns out, that's not the case though. Butch said that we didn't meet until we were about four, but I don't remember that far back – apparently, he does though."

"Well what did he say about the matter?" Blossom questioned. Buttercup shook her head. "Nothing, I heard you calling and he said that he'd tell me some other time." She growled. "I'm getting so sick of this – of not knowing anything – whether it's regarding the forest, the boys, or the town itself – I want answers! There are too many secrets here, and I don't like it."

"We want answers too, but we can't rush these things." Blossom pointed out. "Mitch did say that papa is supposed to tell us about the creatures in the woods at some point, and if he doesn't tonight, then he's willing to tell us himself."

"and if papa doesn't tell us _tonight,_ then I'm taking him up on his offer." Buttercup snapped. "I need to know what those… things are. I need to know what the hell bit you two that night… the things that stalked us though the forest… they aren't natural!"

"No, they're not." Blossom agreed. "I'm just as curious myself, but thankfully my shoulder seems to be healing… surprisingly well. How is your arm Bubbles?"

"It's almost completely closed over." Bubbles admitted as she pushed up her sleeve to reveal her bandaged arm, before pushing her sleeve down. "When I changed the bandages on it this morning, I noticed that most of the puncture wounds have closed over… there are a few small ones that are still open, but they aren't bleeding anymore. I'm just keeping the coverings on it until they're complexly sealed over."

"Well that's a relief." Buttercup sighed, as she moved over on the steps, so that Bubbles could join her and Blossom. The sisters lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Blossom broke the quiet.

"What are you going to do about Butch?" she murmured. Buttercup let out a tired sigh, "I don't know Bloss. Hopefully he'll be kept at bay for a bit, but something tells me he's going to be… a little more persistent then that."

"You need to tell papa. He should know about what happened between you and Butch-"

"Have you told papa about Brick yet?" Buttercup challenged. Blossom ducked her head.

"No…"

"Then you will not say _anything_ about Butch." Buttercup said as she stood up to brush herself off. "That goes for _both_ of you." She added as she sent Bubbles a pointed look, causing the youngest Utonium to flush bashfully.

"Sorry… I just got excited." She apologised. "I mean, it is exciting on one hand – you've both gotten proposed too! I'm still waiting on someone to ask me…"

Blossom and Buttercup shot worried looks at each other as the words left their youngest sisters mouth. "Bloss, do you think that Boomer might…?" Buttercup muttered as she cast a glance in her younger sister's direction.

"It's possible Buttercup – after all, Brick and Butch showed interest in us, then perhaps… Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Boomer started making moves towards you Bubbles." Blossom admitted with a half shrug. "He certainly seems very fond of you already…"

Bubbles face burned bright red as she thought of the possibility that the youngest Jojo would chase after her, much like his brothers were after her sisters.

"H-he's fond of me yes, but I don't know if he would-"

" _Girls? Are you home?"_ their father's voice echoed through the house, making them all jump. "Yes papa, we're home!" Bubbles called back – grateful for the sudden distraction. The sound of footsteps echoed though the house until their father appeared – the dark circles under his eyes indicating that he hadn't slept much at all last night.

His tired eyes brightened as he saw his daughters and moved forward to give them each a hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Oh thank goodness you girls are alright!" he exclaimed. "Please don't take off like that again! I was so worried! They… they didn't touch you did they?" he asked frantically.

"They? You mean the Jojo's?" Blossom asked as she cocked a confused eyebrow at the state of her farther.

"What?! NO. No of course not!" Buttercup explained. "Why would you think that?"

"I thought mum told you that we we're leaving to go into town with the boys for a few hours?" Bubbles asked. "Did she not tell you?"

"No, she did, but girls please don't take off with them unless you have my direct permission!" their father exclaimed. "I was… just concerned about your safety." He finished lamely as caught the startled looks that his daughters were giving him. He let out an awkward cough as he straightened.

"Uh… did you have a good time at least?" he asked, almost timidly. The girls shot baffled looks between them as they tried to determine the cause of the sudden mood swing in their father.

"It was actually quite pleasant." Blossom informed him. "We saw Mitch as well-"

"Speaking of Mitch-" Buttercup interrupted as she marched up to her father. "-he informed us that _you_ have some rather important information to share with us."

John seemed to deflate at his middle daughter's words. He had been meaning to tell them earlier in the day, only to find out that they had went into town with the Jojo's. A small shudder ran though him as he thought about the trio of boys… He didn't trust them to be alone with his daughters… not after what he had seen-

He sighed. At least they came back unharmed – though, he hadn't been worried about that possibility. No, he had been far more worried about the possibly of them-

"Dad?"

Buttercup's light feminine rasp snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked down slightly, only to see her blazing green eyes bore into his own dark ones as she looked up back up at him.

"Dad… you know what we want don't you? I think its time that you told us the truth about the creatures in the woods… all of it." Buttercup murmured gently. "Daddy please… We need to know. No more secrets, no more lies… just tell us."

John sighed. He had been ready to tell them earlier that afternoon, but now… he wasn't even sure where to began.

But he had to try… for his daughter's safeties, he had to try.

"… Alright. Girls, follow me to the study. I think it's time we had a talk."

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

Ace stared at the blank piece of parchment and pen sitting on top of the desk he was sitting at.

He was currently in his own personal chambers within the Jojo mansion – having completed all of his tasks around the estate a few hours earlier. He let out a raspy sigh as he moved to light the lamp that was sitting on the desk, providing him with a better light source.

The sky was beginning to darken, as it was already late afternoon and soon he would have to help set the table and serve his new jailers their dinner on a gold platter.

He scowled at the thought.

 _Pompous little shits. They'll get what's coming to them… especially Butch. What he did to Gubber and Billy wont go unavenged… they'll get their revenge._ He thought sinisterly to himself.

 _And once they're out of the way… those Untonium girls will be ripe for the taking._ He chuckled gleefully as he rubbed his hands together. They were by far some of the most gorgeous woman that he had ever seen. The one with the flaming red hair was more of a classic beauty – a true lady if he had ever met one, the little angel with the blonde hair was a sweet 'girl-next-door' type, and was definitely something that he wanted, but the one with the jet-black hair? She was a _babe._

 _All and all, all three would fetch an extremely good price-_

A little bell by his bedside table chimed, letting him know he was being summoned. The lanky man stifled a groan as he glared spitefully at the bell.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your damn horses, I'm coming you slave drivers." He muttered as he turned back towards the blank piece of paper – the bells chime helping make his decision.

Turning towards the paper, he picked up the pen and quickly scratched out a hastily written message, before folding up the paper and stuffing it into an envelope, and departing out of his room to find out who was calling him.

The half open envelope sat innocently on the desk, unassuming to the average person, however it held a sinister message inside. Scrawled out on the paper in black ink were the words:

 _Snake Eyes_

 _I'm out. Working for the damn Jojo's of all people._

 _Get the rest of the gang together and get over here to Townsville NOW – I've got a job for us to do._

 _Ace._

* * *

 **Inner Townsville Forest, ?**

The forest was deadly silent. Aside from the wind blowing through the tree branches high above the ground, there was no sound in the dense, dark woods outside of Townsville.

The wind suddenly began to pick up, and a harsh, cruel wind howled through the forest floor – scattering piles of dead leaves and forcing snow drifts up into the air, clearing a spot on the forest floor.

The wind died down and there was silence in the forest again for a tense moment, before a glowing red light began to manifest out of the barren spot on the ground. The light grew stronger and stronger, as odd symbols and shapes began to burn themselves into the ground along side the eerie red light. An odd humming sound seemed to echo up out of the ground, that gradually got louder and clearer, quickly turning into sinister laughter as the very ground suddenly opened up, allowing thick red smoke to billow out around the immediate area – the red light becoming blinding as a hooded figure slowly rose out of the ground.

The figure looked around the area for a moment, before taking a hesitant step outside of the ominous red circle. As soon as the strangers foot touched the ground just outside the red glow, the earth closed up behind them – cutting off the red glow and ominous laughter behind them – the dark red smoke evaporated into thin air, leaving no trace of it ever existing, as everything returned to how it was before – save from the symbols that had been burned into the ground behind the stranger.

The hooded figure sucked in a sharp intake of breath as they slowly spread their arms and spun in a small circle – hardly daring to believe where they were.

The figure reached up and slowly pulled off the hood, revealing a thin woman with wild black hair, pale skin with small freckles dotting her cheeks, and striking light green eyes.

Sudusa dropped her hood and looked around the forest in disbelief, as tears sprang to her eyes and the smallest of smiles crossed her face for the first time in years.

 _Home. She was home. After spending so many years locked away in Hell, she was finally home…_

 _But she wasn't free._

Her tiny smile dropped off her face as her master's words echoed in her damaged mind: _**"Remember my dear – you still belong to me. Your job for the time being is to watch over our darling son's choices in woman, and you are to keep an eye on the boys as well. HOWEVER, you are to have no contact with them – is that understood?"**_

Sudusa nodded as the words bounced around inside her skull. She had no problem keeping her distance from her… " _sons"…_ She swallowed thickly. Those monsters were not her babies. They were not hers, they were not hers, they were not-

" _Mama?"_

She shut her eyes tightly, only to open them again and see a small blonde boy with dark blue eyes staring up at her with a bright smile. Her mind reeled in panic as she was unwillingly sucked back into her memories. She almost screamed as she felt her mind beginning to sink back into the madness that consumed her waking hours.

 _You're not real. YOU'RE NOT REAL!"_ She screamed mentally at the small chid in front of her – knowing that on some level in her fog induced mind, that the boy really _wasn't_ there, and that he was just a figment of her tainted memories.

 _Still, he looked so real – sounded real too… it was almost like she could reach out and touch him…_

" _Mama, is that you? What are you doing here?"_

 _He had always been her favourite-_

"STOP!" She shrieked as he eyes snapped open – the red fog disappearing from her mind as she brought herself back to the real world. She looked around hesitantly. The boy was gone. He'd be back later though. He always came back.

Taking a shuddering breath in to calm her palpating heart, she slowly took a step forward – half expecting the ground to open up and swallow her whole again. When she was satisfied that it wouldn't, she began to move though the forest in silence, not saying a word until she managed to reach the edge of the woods.

Staring out over the darkening town she looked over to the west end of Townsville. There in the distance, was the Bellum Manor. A sad smile crossed over her face once again. She had spent some of they happiest times of her life there with Sara… Sara had always been kind to her… unlike the rest of her miserable family…

Her smile turned into a pained frown. Sara should not have returned to Townsville… she, her foolish husband and their daughters should have stayed away… Now, she was forced to watch over the young girls… forced to keep an eye on them until the _beasts_ decided to claim them-

Sudusa leaned on a nearby tree as she put her head in her hands. She wanted to warm them some how, to tell them to get away… but she couldn't. Much like the boys, she was forbidden from interacting with the girls, and she couldn't disobey a direct order from her master… Horrible, unspeakable things happened when he became angry… and he'd take it out on her…

Shaking her head, she risked a glance out towards the east end of Townsville. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was hidden in amongst the rolling hills just outside of Townsville – her own personal hell – the Jojo Estate.

Her eyes narrowed. She's have to go there eventually – she knew that, but for now, she would stay near the west end… the better end… the _saner_ end…

" _Mama?"_

 _Oh no… here he came again. He always came back… to torment her, to haunt her – a reminder of the ones that she could not protect…_

Sudusa shut her eyes tightly. She didn't want to open them, knowing full well that he would be right in front her – staring up at her with those big blue eyes that she had always found so gorgeous-

She cracked open a bloodshot pale green orb, and sure enough, there he was – a little blonde boy with dark cobalt eyes, staring up at her with a smile on his face. Sudusa felt one lone tear roll down her face – it was hard to believe that he had grown up to be such a monster like the other two… She grit her teeth as she fought hard against the madness that was pulling at her mind. She wouldn't let that dreaded red fog pull her down again… not again…

" _Mama what are you doing?"_ The hollow voice echoed in her mind, and she felt a slight tug on her hand, before it released her. She felt more tears begin to slide down her face as she looked in the direction of the small boy – only to see that he had re-appeared serval yards away at the very edge of the tree-line.

He beckoned her over and pointed down into the valley where the town lay, before looking over and pointing to where the Bellum manor resided just outside of the town itself.

" _Come on Mom."_ He called, sprinting off in the direction of the Bellum manor – only to disappear into thin air before her very eyes.

Sudusa closed her eyes once more as she nodded slowly. She knew what she had to do – and though she did not want to, she had to.

Slowly, but surly, her feet moved forward, and she walked out of the woods and down into the valley toward the Bellum manor, after the small boy.

She had a lot of demons – more then most. But he wasn't so bad.

* * *

 _1814, Jojo Estate, Basement._ _ **?**_

 _The basement was dark and damp, the only available light sources coming from the one window off to the far-right side of the room, and the glowing circle on the floor._

 _The same circle that was keeping them trapped – stuck in the damn basement._

 _Its eerily red light, glowed sinisterly at their feet, illuminating the area they were in with a soft red glow. They were stuck in a corner of the large basement, concealed from view – hidden away from the rest of the world._

 _It was a lonely existence._

 _The boy with green eyes sighed. At least he wasn't complexly alone…_

 _Two other boys were trapped in the circle with him. One with dark red hair and blood red eyes, and the other with dirty blonde hair and cobalt blue eyes._

 _His older and younger brothers respectively._

 _They were all that he knew. He didn't know anything else about them, not their likes, not their dislikes, not even their names…_

 _He didn't even know his own name._

 _All he knew was that that had been trapped in this basement, stuck in this glowing circle, since their creation._

 _He couldn't leave… his brothers couldn't leave… they were trapped like wild animals…_

 _The thought made him furious._

 _The primal rage, and the raw hate that he carried, sang in his blood as he bit back a howl. Those emotions were all that he had, all that he knew. That and the shadows in his chest. They were familiar to him… almost comforting in a way._

 _But god, he just wanted_ out _._

 _The brothers were silent as the hours past – knowing full well that screaming wouldn't do anything. It was best to wait until their so called "father" came down to check on them. But he wouldn't let them out. Oh no. he would study them for hours, but never dare let them out._

 _With nothing left to do they fell into a light slumber, still trapped in the confines of the glowing red circle…_

… _The sound of soft giggling and hushed whispers caught their attention a few hours later, as the heavy basement door suddenly creaked open, letting them hear the whispers more clearly._

" _Buttercup… Buttercup. We're not supposed to be down here! Let's go find papa."_

" _Come on Blossom, it's just a basement. What could be so bad about it? Bubbles? Don't you want to see what's down here?"_

" _Umm… I'm afraid of the dark… that basement looks really scary…"_

" _Come on Bubs, be brave! It's just a basement like ours. One little look and then we'll never go back down again. I just want to see what it looks like that's all. You can hold my hand if you want."_

 _There was another soft sigh and then they heard two pairs of light footsteps slowly begin to descend the basement steps. There was an annoyed sigh from the top of the stairs, before a third part of feet was head descending the steps as well._

 _They were silent as they heard the three intruders get off the last step and onto the cold basement floor. The intruders were silent for a moment before the timid sounding second voice piped up again._

" _Well… now you've seen the basement… can we go back upstairs please Buttercup? This place is scary…"_

" _I'm not going to let anything happen to you Bubs, you're holding my hand remember? I'll keep you safe."_

" _Buttercup if she wants to go up just let her go back up." The first voice sighed again._

" _No! I-I'm brave just like you and Buttercup, Blossom! I can do this… just don't let go of my hand Buttercup…"_

" _Didn't plan on it little sister. Let's look around then go back up m'kay?"_

 _The light shuffling and tiny whispers came closer to their spot – all the intruders needed to do was turn the corner and they would see them-_

" _Wow this place is way bigger then our basement – this must be where papa does all the experiments with Mr. Mojo." The first voice said excitedly._

" _Hey look at all the pictures on the walls!" The third voice giggled. "Daddy and Mr. Mojo draw on the walls just like me! Only daddy gets mad when I do it-"_

" _Those aren't pictures Bubbles." The first voice said gently, "Those look more like symbols to me…"_

 _There was slight movement from just around the corner that was hiding them from view, and the boy felt himself tense, growling softly. He didn't know who was down here, but he would fight them off – to hell it he couldn't move from within the confines of the circle! He yearned for a fight. Something to satisfy the animalistic urges and the shadows in his chest-_

 _Suddenly, the person who was around the corner turned and came into view – stopping dead as their eyes made contact with his._

 _A small girl with short black hair, and bright green eyes, wearing a light green dress, was standing before them – not daring to move, as she gazed at the three boys before her._

 _Her piercing green eyes locked on to his own forest green ones, and time stood still._

 _He felt the rage, the hate that he had, suddenly melt away – and the shadows in his chest stilled as he looked at her._

 _She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. – The only girl he had ever seen, but that didn't matter._

 _Her eyes widened as she looked at them, and slowly began to back up. "G-girls?" she stuttered, without taking her eyes off them. "I think you two need to see this."_

 _The two other sets of feet came running over, and two more girls rounded the corner. One had long red hair tied up in a bow, and the other had light blonde hair that was wrapped into two pigtails on either side of her head. The green-eyed boy felt his brothers stiffen beside him at the sight of the two new girls, but didn't say a word._

 _All three girls stared at them, flabbergasted and unsure of what to do. All three boys stared back, equally as confused._

 _Finally, his older brother spoke up. "Can you get us out of here?"_

 _The girl with the long red hair recovered from her shock first. "C-can't you get out yourself?"_

" _No… we can't leave the circle without help." The red eyed boy guested to the glowing red circle that was keeping them captive. "You'll have to step in and take us out yourselves."_

" _W-who are you?" the small blonde squeaked as she hid behind the red-haired girl, her sky blue eyes wide with amazement._

" _Mojo's… sons…" His blonde brother mumbled. "Please help us – we don't want to be down here anymore." He whimpered._

 _The small girls looked at each other, before the one with the bow in her hair nodded firmly. "I don't know why you're down here if you're Mr. Mojo's sons, but we'll help get you out."_

 _The three girls stepped closer to the glowing red circle on the floor and shuddered. They could sense something was wrong with it – that it wasn't normal – he could tell, but it didn't matter… as long as they freed him and his brothers…_

 _The girl with the bright green eyes stopped dead in front of him an stared at him – not with fear, just… curiosity._

 _Oh… her eyes were the most unusual shade of green he had ever seen. They were so light, they looked closer to lime… So bright that they lit up the dreary basement… they were the brightest things he had ever see…_

" _What are you doing down here?" she whispered to him softly. What was he doing down here? He didn't even know anymore…_

" _Who are you." She whispered softly, her hand just an inch away from penetrating the light the circle was casting. Her question caused him to freeze._

 _Who was he? Did he have a name? he didn't know…_

 _He and his brothers had never been named officially… not that he could remember…_

 _The girl noticed his pause and let out a small sigh. "My name is Buttercup." She informed him softly._

 _Buttercup… Buttercup…_

 _That was…_

 _Such a nice name._

 _It sounded fresh – pure, unlike the musty basement he was trapped in…_

 _He looked at her then, and realized she was still waiting for his name. He didn't have one… not one that she would understand anyways… he could name himself he realized then. This was it, this was his chance to be something- someone._

 _He looked at her firmly. Dark forest green eyes boring into light lime green ones._

 _Buttercup… such a delicate name… unlike him… no, he was anything but that – It was then, he decided, that he would protect this girl, keep her safe, and keep her with him not matter what._

 _If she was Buttercup, then he would be her opposite. Her equal. Her match. He would be-_

 _and suddenly, he knew exactly what he was going to name himself._

" _Butch." He hummed lowly to her as he looked deep into her bright green eyes._

" _That's my name. Butch."_

… _Butch…_

 _Butch… Get up…_

 _Butch…_

 _ **BUTCH!**_

Butch's eyes snapped open and he jolted upright, chest heaving as he struggled to control his palpating heart. After a moment his heart beat began to slow down as he remembered that he was back in his home, in one of the mansions many living rooms. As his heart rate slowed, he noticed Brick and Boomer staring at him from the opposite end of the couch he had fallen asleep on, eyeing him worriedly.

"Are you alright?" Boomer asked hesitantly, giving his older brother a quick once-over.

"Fine." Butch grunted as he forced himself into a sitting position. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were mumbling in your sleep." Brick informed him. "Some of the things you were saying were… concerning." He eyed his obsidian haired sibling wearily. "Care to share with us?"

Butch shrugged as he swung his legs over the sides of the couch, and put his head in his hands, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, before finally looking back at his brothers.

"… It wasn't really a dream – more like a memory." He admitted, as he rested his chin on top of a closed fist. "What were you remembering?" Boomer asked curiously, as he took a spot next to his forest eyed bother.

"I was just thinking back to the time when we first met the girls."

Both red and blue clad Jojo brothers froze and an ominous silence fell over the three before Butch broke it again softly.

"Remember how we were locked in the basement for such a long time? No one came to see us. Out of all the people who could have discovered us, it was three four-year-old girls, who where too curious for their own good. Come to think of it, they were the first human beings that we saw aside from dad, the professor and mu-"

"That's enough." Brick hissed fiercely. "I don't need to be reminded of how long we were trapped in that damn basement for. We agreed not to speak of it. What brought this on?"

"Butters wanted to know how exactly we met." Butch admitted as he slow rose from the couch. "and what the hell did you tell her?" Brick growled, eyes flashing dangerously. "Nothing." Butch replied truthfully, "I got interrupted before I could say anything."

"You keep your mouth shut on that topic." The crimson eyed man snarled, "Its better for us if they don't know for know. In time, we'll break it to them gently, but they'll never believe us right now."

"Mark my words though" Brick spat out venomously – his crimson red eyes darkening and taking on an odd glow as he hatefully snarled, "They _will_ pay for what they did to us… _all_ of them will."

"Butch has a point though." Boomer interjected. "They're bound to find out eventually. We can't keep something like that a secret from them forever-"

"Do you want them to bolt?" Brick challenged sullenly. "Because that's exactly what will happen if they find out the truth now. If I can get Bloss to accept my proposal, her sisters will be more inclined to stay with her – that's when you two can make your moves."

"I dunno Bro, Butters seems very intent on not marrying anyone." Butch chuckled. "I'll wear her down though, I already told her I plan on proposing to her at some point – just so there are no surprises."

"You're impossible." Brick sighed. "Just don't get ahead of yourself. We still have unfinished business with Michelson to take care of before we can proceed with the girls. The next full moon is in a few weeks, and we need to be ready. No more playing around – no more mistakes. We need to be focused, both now _and_ in beast form. This little game we've been playing with him ends next full moon."

Butch and Boomer paused as the implication of their brother's words washed over them. "Are you implying what I think you're implying?" Butch asked lowly. Brick only sent him a shadowed look, making his blood red orbs glow sinisterly.

"I think boys, that its time that we start using some of our more… hidden tricks." He murmured lowly, as Butch and Boomer adopted similar looks. "Mitch needs to go."

"and do tell Brick, how are we going to get him away from the town long enough to finish him off?" Boomer muttered quietly, peering up at his brother from underneath his shaggy blonde hair. Brick grinned savagely at the question.

"I have a few ideas." He purred as he laced his hands together behind his head, before leaning back into the couch. "Such as?" Butch growled, raising a dark brow.

Brick simply shook his head and closed his blood red irises, a sinister smirk playing at his lips.

"Remember that abandoned insane asylum just on the outskirts of Townsville?..."

* * *

 **Authors note:** _Victorian courtship is interesting to write._

Carrie: "I got the impression Brick was the "suave" of the brothers. Boomer's the "gentleman" and Butch is the one all the chaperones warn you about." _-_ _ **Well you're not wrong**_ _. XD_

 _ *****_ _Stared text once again belongs to Carrie as once again, she proves that she is the best at writing Victorian-styled text – seriously none compare, I want her skills._

 _Well, it looks like the girls will finally be getting some long-deserved information in the next chapter – I wonder how they'll take to hearing the news…_

 _And oooohhhh things are heating up with the last flashback. That's two so far, one from Buttercup and one from Butch, (if you don't count the small ones that the professor has had), but rest assured, the Reds and Blues will have their voices heard in upcoming chapters…_

 _Of course we saw a little bit into the Professor's head once again… just what does he know about the boys? Possibly more then he lets on… oh this man got himself into quite a bit of trouble…_

 _Ace is a despicable creature in this AU. What sinister plan he had cooking up in that devious head of his, remains to be seen however – he wont be the only one seeking revenge on the Jojo's for past wrong-doings…_

 _A little bit more about the boys has been revealed… but there is SO much more to them then meets the eye… so much more indeed…_

 _But that will be revealed in due time._

 _One last thing I must say before I leave you all here for now: From the bottom of my heart – thank you all so much for the love and support that Lycan has received! It warms my heart to see so many people enjoying this tale – even though it had been on a bit of a break since August!_

 _The reviews alone are enough to make me happy cry if you want the honest truth! I may not respond to all of them, as I don't always have time, but please know that I do see them, and that I appreciate every single one! I hope to respond to them in due time!_

 _Once again: thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I'll see you all again for chapter 10._

 _Stay amazing lovelies,_

 _Mrs. RoseGold xoxoxo_


	10. The Asylum

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _The rating of this story is a High T for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned._

 _ **Happy 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **Birthday to Lycan! It's hard to believe that I released this a year ago today, and look how much it's grown since then! It's just incredible and I can barely wrap my head around it!**_

 _ **This chapter – just like all the others – is dedicated to all of my readers who have stuck by Lycan since the very beginning – it would have never have come this far without your constant support. Thank you once again, from the bottom of my heart – this is for you.**_

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _: this chapter has massive amounts of gore within it and some of the themes within may be disturbing to some of my younger readers. Please read with caution._

 _Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners._

 _The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages._

* * *

 **Chapter 10: The Asylum**

 _The past is a wilderness of horrors._

 _-The Wolfman_

 **Bellum Manor**

John ushered the girls into the study and shut the door behind them firmly. Without looking at them, he brushed past his daughters to sit in the desk chair at the center of the room, putting his head in his hands with a sigh.

Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles shifted uncomfortably in front of their father, as he tried and failed to slow his thoughts down enough to explain to his daughters what was happening in the woods.

Finally, he dropped his hands away from his face and folded them on the desk – glancing up wearily at his daughters.

"Well girls. I've tried and failed over the past couple of days to think of a way to tell you this news without the three of you thinking I'm losing my mind, but I can't think of an easy way to say this – so I'm just going to come out and say it."

The girls leaned forward as did John. Lancing his hands together he took a breath and slowly began to speak.

"Do you remember the stories your mother and I used to tell you when you three were little girls?" John asked. The girls nodded. "The ones about myths and supernatural creatures?"

"I remember those." Buttercup replied with a half-smile. "They used to terrify Bubbles. I loved them though."

"Hey!" Bubbles cut in indignity. "Some of them were really scary, and I was still afraid of the dark at the time so that didn't help me!"

"Relax Bubbles I was just playing around." Buttercup chuckled fondly as she ruffled her sister's light blonde hair. "Some of them were pretty scary." She agreed gently as she looked up at her father with a quirked brow. "What's brought that on?"

John sighed. "Well, the stories that your mother and I used to tell you actually originated from here, believe it or not. Townsville is rich with old folk-lore and legends. It's a very traditional place if you haven't figured that out yet." He chuckled bitterly before adding "There's a reason why people go to church every single Sunday." In a hushed tone.

"Perhaps you would care to elaborate a little papa, I don't think that we're quite following you." Blossom interjected. John nodded.

"I wasn't expecting you to. What I'm about to tell you girls is going to come as quite the shock. I didn't want to believe it at first, but after the attack last week, and the undisputable evidence that Mitch has brought forward… I can't deny it any longer."

He cleared his throat and leveled them with a firm gaze. "Girls. I have reason to believe that the creature that is behind all of the recent deaths – including your Uncle's, is…" he paused for a moment – still debating on whether or not to tell them what he believed the creature was.

He didn't want to tell them like this. Not in this fashion, but he was out of time.

Taking another deep breath, and praying to whoever was listening that his daughters didn't think he was insane – he blurted out in a rush: "I think the creature that is responsible for all of the attacks is a werewolf.

The girls said nothing – option only to stare at their father with blank looks on their faces, as they tried to digest what their father had said. Finally, when she could take the silence no more, Buttercup let out a weak laugh.

"Funny… now, what's the real cause behind the attacks?" she croaked. John only looked at his middle daughter sadly, and Buttercup tensed. "Oh… Oh god dad… you're not kidding-"

"No. and I wish that I was." John whispered. As he buried his head in his hands. "You three probably think that I'm insane-"

"Just a little!" Buttercup gasped, only to get elbowed in the ribs by Blossom. reaching forward, She gently touched her father on the head to get his attention.

"Papa… can you please explain to us why you think that it's… a werewolf… that's causing the attacks?" she asked gently, though her candy coloured eyes betrayed her doubts.

John sighed as he lifted himself off the desk and slowly raised his hands. "Hear me out girls. I wouldn't say this for the hell of it – I do have some proof to back up this claim." He assured them.

"Do you three remember when Mitch paid us a visit?" He asked quietly, causing Buttercup snort. "How could we forget? He was more dead than alive at that point." She bit out sarcastically, casing John to cringe.

"Yes… well… you could say that him and I had a little… talk, that clarified somethings for me." John admitted. "He brought some new information to the table and I couldn't argue with the things that he was saying."

"Such as?" Bubbles asked hesitantly.

"Well, he got a _very_ good look at the creatures that were attacking him and the other hunters." John started. "He made it perfectly clear that they are not normal beasts-"

The girls shot each other hidden looks as they thought back to their terrifying encounter with the beasts that night in the woods. They could safely say that the creatures that had attacked them were certainly _not_ normal be any means.

"and we've… well I suppose you would say that we've gotten the same information regarding these creatures from a very reliable source. They've told us the same things – they warned us that such tragedies would befall the town during the full moon. I didn't listen to them. And now we are paying the price."

"But how can they be certain?" Blossom piped up confused. John grimaced slightly as he thought of a way to answer her without revealing to her that the gypsy's in question were related to the Jojo clan.

"Well, ah, I suppose that one could say that they have been… keeping an eye on the situation here for quite some time now. Based on what they saw over the years, they came to that pretcular conclusion." John muttered sullenly. "Regardless, I think that they've been right all along… including that one odd man from the bar." He admitted as he thought back to the insane ramblings from the one man back in the town's tavern.

"You mean that man who melted down all of his wife's silver to make bullets?" Bubbles asked confused. "The one from when we went into town to have lunch together?"

"That's the one." John confused, only for a confused frown to appear on Bubbles's face.

"But why would he do that?" She asked, only for Buttercup to mutter something under her breath. "Sorry Buttercup I couldn't hear you, what did you say?"

"Because Bubbles, only _silver_ hurts werewolves – remember from the stories? Silver is like poison to them." The dark-haired woman informed her. "I guess the man is familiar with the stories as well… He's smart." She admitted truthfully as an afterthought.

John nodded, "Right. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? – but he might have been onto something this entire time. The issue is that people didn't know what it was exactly – but after the last attack… well… I think that people will be more inclined to listen to the possibility that it really is a – dare I say it – Lycan."

He paused briefly as he stared out one of the studies windows thoughtfully. "At least, I hope they'd be willing to listen. It's an insane theory, but it's the best that I've got – and I'll have Mitch to help back up my claims. Besides, after all of the attacks this town has suffered recently – I don't think they can afford to be skeptical anymore."

"But people who get attacked by werewolves… don't they get turned into werewolves themselves? From the bite?" Bubbles asked timidly. John thought about his youngest daughter's question for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yes, I suppose they do don't they?"

"But, but then the people who got attacked-" Bubbles started to protest only to stop as she caught a distressed look from Blossom.

"It wouldn't matter whether or not they got bit by those things Bubbles." The pale red-head whispered with a blank look on her face. "No one has ever survived the attacks."

"What about Mitch?" Buttercup asked, glancing around the room at her sisters and father nervously. "he did." Both girls and John froze, before he sighed.

"I don't think he have to worry about him… he only got clawed… not bit… at least… not that I know of. If the old stories are to be believed, its only by a bite that transform another person into a werewolf… at least I think… Honestly girls, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this situation… the fact that it's bloody _werewolves-_ " John cut himself off, and chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. The older man averted his eyes way from his daughters for a moment, allowing them to send each other panicked looks, as they glanced at the hidden bite marks on Blossom and Bubbles – the horrifying realization hitting them like a ton of bricks.

"So… what happens now?" Buttercup asked hesitantly, as looked worriedly at her sisters. "Since you're so convinced that werewolves are behind all of the attacks I mean."

"Honestly Buttercup, I have no clue." John replied truthfully. "I still have yet to convince Mojo of this discovery – I'll certainly need Mitch's help to convince him. I know that he'll sooner send me to a mental institution then believe me if I don't have him backing me up."

"and then after that?" Blossom asked quietly, still with an unreadable expression on her face that slightly unnerved her father and sisters. "Ah, well after that… Mitch is going to help me convince the town… or at least that was the plan. He said that they shouldn't take that much convincing. Some apparently are staring to believe that it's some sort of demon anyways." John responded uncomfortably as he looked at the blank look on his oldest daughter face.

She nodded silently, and slowly stepped backwards towards the door, away from her sisters, who cast worried looks at her odd behavior.

Calmly and seemingly completely detached from her surroundings, Blossom shook her head. "Well… thank you for sharing the truth with us papa. This is…. A lot to process. You'll have to forgive me, but I need to be alone for a while so I can think."

John opened his mouth, but shut it after a moment – seemingly torn between trying to convince his eldest daughter or asking her nit to write him off as a complete loon. Finally, after a moment he nodded, signaling for her to leave. Receiving the permission she needed, Blossom swiftly opened the door and disappeared out into the dark hallway, leaving he father and sisters behind.

John let out another groan as he put his head back in his hands. "I knew I raised her to be too much like me. I knew she wouldn't believe me." He sighed, as he peaked up and Buttercup and Bubbles. "I know it sounds crazy girls – believe me, I do, and I don't want it to be so – but you have to trust me on this… what's happen to this town… what happened to your Uncle... No ordinary creature could have done that."

"Dad, this might be hard for you to believe right now – but I know that Bloss believes you. She just doesn't want to, is all." Buttercup murmured gently as she placed a comforting hand on her father's head, before barking out a laugh. "Hell, _I_ don't want to – but some of the things you're saying make sense."

"We'll talk to her." Bubbles promised as she linked her arm though Buttercup's. "We'll get her to come around. She believes you – she does, but she's just like you – she has to have significant facts first."

John smile wearily at that. "I know. Sometimes I think that I've had too much of an influence on her." He admitted, before rising to come around the desk and pull his daughters into a hug.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been completely truthful with you girls lately… things aren't always as they seem." He paused. "You know that I love you girls, right?" he asked timidly. Bubbles nodded as she returned her father's embrace. "Of course daddy. It's alright – you had your reasons."

Buttercup returned the embrace after a moment with an off-put huff. "It still would have been nice to know this information earlier – we could have helped you papa. You don't have to shut us out – we aren't babies anymore." Her statement caused a small chuckle to escape him, as he squeezed his daughter's tighter.

"You'll always be my babies – no matter how old you get." He informed them softly as he kissed them each on the forehead, before releasing them. "Now, please go check on your sister. I would, but something tells me that she doesn't want to see me at the moment."

Bubbles offed her father a wry smile. "We'll calm her down papa. We'll get her to see. You can count on us."

John could only glance up towards the empty doorframe here Blossom had disappeared from moments before with a pained sigh.

"I hope so Bubbles, I hope so."

* * *

"Blossom, Blossom, wait up for a second."

Bubbles called after Blossom's disappearing figure, as both she and Buttercup bolted down the manors hallway's after her chestnut-haired sister, who had just disappeared into the living room. Blossom stopped and allowed her younger sisters to catch up to her without turning around to face them. As the girls approached her, they heard her quietly chuckling to herself, causing both to stop a foot from her with raised brows.

"Blossom?" Bubbles asked hesitantly as she slowly made her way closer to her, Buttercup following just behind with her guard up. Blossom… Only ever chuckled like that when she was either mad or disappointed. Neither emotions were a good thing in this case.

"Werewolves. WEREWOLVES. Honestly Buttercup, Bubbles, can you _believe_ this?"

"Yes, actually. I can." Buttercup mumbled darkly, interrupting her auburn-haired sister. Causing the pale girl to narrow her eyes at her tanned sister.

Buttercup caught her sister's rose colored glare and sighed, shaking her head. "I know you know what you saw Bloss. We all saw the same thing that night. No one was dreaming, although I'd rather it be a nightmare."

Catching the slightly annoyed look Blossom was sending her, Buttercup brought her hands up in defense. "Don't look at me like that Bloss. I know you don't want to think that it's true – believe me, I don't either – but those things in the woods… you have to agree with us that they _weren't_ normal."

"That doesn't mean that it's a were-"

"Blossom, the facts are staring us right in the face!" Buttercup finally snapped, letting her temper take control. "These things only ever come out on a full moon. They don't match up to any one animal. Shot-gun blasts literally have NO effect on them-" she began listing the facts off on her fingers, as both Blossom and Bubbles flinched. Glancing up and seeing the slightly horrified looks on both of her sister's faces, she paused in the middle of her rant, and sighed, deflating slightly.

"Look… all I'm saying is that… maybe its time to accept the fact that… maybe the paranormal… is more normal then we originally thought it was."

Seeing the uneasy looks on Blossom and Bubbles faces, she shrugged. "At least – around here anyways."

"As much as I don't want to believe it myself, you have to admit that Buttercup is right Blossy." Bubbles sighed as she reached over to squeeze the red-head's hand. "Ever since we got here, nothing has gone right – this whole place is… strange. Maybe papa was right after all. Maybe this place really _is_ cursed."

Blossom was silent.

Bubbles released her hand and moved to trace her bitten arm with her newly freed hand. Pushing her sleeve up she began to run her finger tips along the light pink marks on her bicep with a distant look in her sky-blue eyes. "Blossom, you and I got bit by them… the stories say that if you get bitten by a werewolf, you'll turn into one…"

She dropped her sky irises to the floor, opting to stare at it, rather than meet the concerned eyes of her sisters. Buttercup's eyes widened as she glanced back and forth between her blue and rose eyed sisters. The raven-haired woman bit her lip nervously she looked at Bubbles's bitten arm and Blossom's concealed shoulder.

"This is bad news girls… you two got bit by them… Mine just… sniffed me." Buttercup muttered lamely as her eyes rested on her sisters, before widening slightly. "Oh shit-"

"Are we going to turn into werewolves then?" Bubbles whispered, as she gestured to herself and Blossom. Her light blue eyes were filled with terror as she looked at her older sisters for an answer.

Blossom was silent as she finally lifted her gaze from the floor to look into her baby sister's frightened eyes – seeing her own fear reflected in them because _she didn't know._ She remained silent as visons of the worst possible scenario's ran through her head, only for Buttercup's frim voice to snap her out of her thoughts.

"Can't be." Buttercup interjected suddenly, frowning as she rubbed her chin in thought. "People turn into werewolves during the full moon. "The two of you got bit during a full moon – if you were going to turn, then shouldn't you have changed during that night?"

She paused and frowned at her feet. "At least I _think_ that's how that works-"

"Provided that it really _is_ a werewolf that's causing all this chaos." Blossom sighed, finally speaking up. Buttercup glanced wearily over at the red-head. "What else could it be Blossom? You got a good long look at what attacked you in the forest that night – we all did. A werewolf fits the description pretty well."

"But-"

"I don't know what to say at this point." Buttercup admitted softly. "Growing up, you hear about them in legends, but you don't believe they exist – who would? But now… considering all that's happened… I think that werewolves are a very real possibility… I mean what else could it be?" she asked with a half shrug, as she glanced away from them to peer out the living room windows facing towards the forest.

"It has papa scared." Bubbles added. "and he doesn't believe in myths in the first place. So, if he's convinced that it's a werewolf… then I'm going to trust him. After all, he hasn't given us a reason _not_ to." She pointed out, before shyly turning to face Buttercup.

"So, you don't think that Blossom and I are going to turn?" she asked Buttercup softy. Buttercup shook her head. "No. You and Bloss _should_ have turned that night if you were going to… somethings not right here-"

"What's right anymore?" Blossom interrupted snickering slightly. "Ever since we've come here, nothing has made any sense what-so-ever." She shook her head with a bitter laugh.

"Werewolves… You know something? I believe papa too. I really do. As insane as this whole thing is, nothing else would scare him as badly as that."

Her candy pink eyes narrowed to slits are she looked at her younger sisters. "But I think he's scared for another reason as well." She informed them.

"What are you trying to say Blossom?" Bubbles murmured, shrinking back against Buttercup from the intensity of her sister's gaze.

"Well, if the stories are to be believed – it is a _man_ that changes into the beast every full moon… and since there are _three_ of these things-"

"It means there are three people who are infected." Buttercup finished lowly. Blossom nodded, wagging a finger in her dark-haired sister's direction. "Not just that but… all of the attacks have only ever happened around Townsville, meaning…" she trailed off, waiting for her sisters to answer her.

Bubbles stiffened as she shakily covered her mouth with a pale hand. "No… you're not suggesting what I think you are… are you?"

"I think she is." Buttercup muttered as she looked away out the living room window, frowning as she glanced out towards the forest. "I don't want to think that it is that but… it makes sense… there's no way that-" her eyes flicked back towards Blossom, and the auburn haired woman was taken aback by the _fear_ she saw in her sister's lime green eyes.

"Blossom do you really think that-"

She nodded once firmly, and Buttercup bit back a strained laugh as she returned to staring out the window at the forest. "Jesus Christ…" She muttered as she shook her head. Bubbles caught on quickly and turned to face her older sister, not bothering to conceal her dread.

"You think that its someone in the town." She said softly, voicing the thing that all three girls were thinking but didn't want to say out loud. Blossom nodded silently in response.

"But the town still has quite a lot of people left in it- they could be anyone!" Bubbles argued, and Blossom nodded.

"I know. And _that's_ why he's so scared." She whispered softly, before she too followed Buttercup's lead, and looked out the window at the dead forest beyond.

"We are walking amongst wolves."

* * *

 **Morebucks Properties**

"-and daddy can you _believe_ those boys treated me with such blatant disrespect?!"

Kingston sighed irritably as he watched his daughter fling herself into another rage before him. Currently he was seated in his office in their Townsville rental estate, watching his daughter pace in front of his desk.

He stifled another groan. She had been in a rage ever since the visit to the visit to John's old partner's estate. From what he had gathered from her enraged screams regarding the whole ordeal – the meeting with the unfamiliar man's son's had gone less then steller – instead, the man's son's had all but insulted his daughter, and the eldest had apparently proposed to John's eldest daughter Blossom, much to his internal surprise.

He slapped a hand over his eyes as Princess continued to rant. He loved his daughter – he really did – but he was beginning to lose his patience concerning the event. After all, it had happened close to two weeks ago now, and he could honestly say that he wasn't aware that his precious daughter could hold a grudge for that length of time.

The burly man's eyes slipped down to the papers on his desk. Half were bills and forms concerning his business in Citysville, and how construction was progressing on some of the older houses he had purchased in Townsville, and the other half – were newspaper articles.

He frowned as he pushed the bills out of the way, and opted to pick up one of the newspaper clippings that he had managed to snag. All were articles concerning the devastating attacks that were occurring around Townsville. Kingston sunk back into his chair, stroking his large red beard, as he picked up three of the clippings – the dates ranging from last month to two weeks ago – as he tried to concentrate on the articles.

Of course… his daughter was making it very difficult for him to concentrate much on anything.

"Prinny… honey, daddy is trying to read." He tried weakly as he attempted to focus on the news clipping in front of his face. Furrowing his brow, he skimmed over the article in question as he blocked out Princess's screams.

" _Mass slaughter at Gypsy camp-site – 30 confirmed dead. Body count on the rise…"_

He flipped to another article.

" _Mysterious creature still on the loose. Beast behind mass killings still out there-"_

He turned the page once more.

" _12 Hunters confirmed dead in an attempt to catch deadly beast in woods. Lone survivor Mitch Michelson is saying nothing of the attack-"_

He dropped the papers down on to the desk as he laced his hands underneath his chin. This was obviously what John had been trying to warn him about when he had seen him last. He had heard the stories about the attack on the gypsy camp before he had first arrived in town, but he hadn't believed that it had been as serious as the town had made it out to be.

Turns out that it was much worse.

Of course, the last article that he had read was fairly recent, happening just after his daughter had gone to meet the Jojo clan. He tapped the article thoughtfully. The creature – whatever it was exactly – that was behind the attacks, was deadly yes, but could prove very useful to him… Especially if it was some new breed of animal unlike the world had ever seen.

If he could somehow catch it – Alive preferably – then he could put his name on it – claim it as his own, and could be credited for the discovery of a new specimen.

He held back a smile as he thought of the perks that would accompany such a discovery.

Oh, the titles and the prestige, and most importantly the _wealth_ that would come along with it…

The red bearded man rubbed his hands together. The rewards would be glorious, the only issue was that he certainly wouldn't be able to do it alone. He would require assistance from John, and perhaps even this Mojo character that he was yet to be introduced to. The more the merrier after all!

He glanced down to the last news clipping. " _Mitch Michelson – the lone survivor of the last attack. I could defiantly use his help in catching this thing."_ Kingston thought to himself privately. _"He's knows that they are – and what's more, he's a hunter – he could trap them for me-"_

"Daddy are you listening?!" a particularly loud shriek from Princess snapped him out of his dark thoughts. "No pumpkin, I was not, sorry my love." He apologized as his daughter huffed, flicking a long strand of curly hair behind her shoulder.

"I was just saying how I am absolutely appalled that those boys would dare to treat me in such a manor. I am a lady! How dare they talk to me like that! The nerve!"

Kingston sucked in a breath as his daughter's voice rose higher and higher – a clear sign that she was going to launch herself into another rant. He had to put an end to this, he couldn't take listening to another rant about the elusive Jojo boys.

"Princess my darling. Light of my life, my most precious treasure – what is it that you would like me to do about this?" he asked her gently – knowing full well that she was waiting for him to ask her.

Sure enough, Princess halted just as she was about to get on yet another rant, and turned to smile sweetly at her father. "Well daddy, I think the very least you could do is go with Professor Utonium and see to it that these boys are reprimanded. After all, it was very rude of them the talk to a lady like that!" she clasped her hands together and send her father another sickly-sweet smile. "Could you at least do that for me?"

"Of course Prinny, of course. I'll make sure that they'll never speak you like that again, don't worry my darling." Kingston waved her request away, as he allowed himself to slink back into his thoughts concerning the beasts in the woods.

 _Oh yes, he'd have John take him to the Jojo estate next time he went there and would give those three youths a lashing for disrespecting his precious daughter – and then he would see if John and Master Mojo would be willing to help him catch the nameless beasts…_

Though, if everything went according to the plan he was slowly starting to hatch in his head – those beasts would not remain nameless for long. Not if he had anything to say about it…

"Daddy? Are you alright? You've been awful quiet the past few days. What are you thinking about?" Princess asked with a small frown on her face.

Kingston simply smiled at her. "Oh, nothing too much sweetheart – daddy's just thinking that a new business opportunity might have come up." He chuckled in delight as he watched his daughter's dark eyes light up at the idea of a new business prospect. She really was turning into a female version of him, and he couldn't be prouder.

"Well what is it?!" she exclaimed as she swiftly moved towards him, to place her elbow on the desk as she cradled her face in her hands. "Tell me, tell me daddy! This place is dreadfully boring! I could use some entertainment!"

Kingston bit back a grin. He was so tempted to tell her about his ideas – but he needed to get the proper help _before_ he could proceed with his plan. Until he did – she would have to remain in the dark for the time being.

Instead, he shook his head lightly and smiled at his daughter. "Don't worry my love, daddy will take care of everything, why don't you go and get ready for bed. You must be exhausted from all that worrying you did."

Princess rose an eyebrow as she shot her father a look that clearly said that she didn't believe him, but never the less, she leaned across the desk to kiss her father on the cheek. "Goodnight daddy. We'll talk about this more in the morning – you know that I can help you with your business idea's. I'm getting just as good as you are." She informed him proudly.

Kingston smiled fondly at her as he returned the kiss to her cheek. "I know pumpkin, and I'm very proud of you. You run along to bed now – I'll tell you at some other point when I figure out all of the little details." He promised.

Princess finally nodded, though she still looked disappointed at the lack of information. With a sigh, she turned around and left the office, leaving Kingston alone to his thoughts – the light from his desk lamp casting ominous shadows across his face.

He chuckled darkly as he rubbed his hands together, sinking back into his plush chair, as his thoughts ran wild. He could almost see the head-lines now:

 _Kingston Morebucks – Founder of a new destructive species. Morebucks Inc. brings the business and sciences sectors to their KNEES._

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

"Brick… What are we doing down here… I _hate_ this place."

"I have to agree with Boomer on this one Red. I thought we agreed not to come down here if we could avoid it. So what the fuck?"

"Butch, Boomer calm yourselves – this won't take very long… but neither of you are going to like this."

Brick sighed as he led the way down into the depths of the dimly lit basement. Butch and Boomer followed closely behind the brooding red-eyed man, both on edge as he led them down father into the dark.

Boomer cringed as he nervously ran a hand through is dirty blonde hair. "Brick why are we down here?" he asked again as he glanced around. "You know why we need to come down here. I told you: we need a way to get rid of Mitch _permanently."_ Brick snapped, causing Butch to roll his eyes as he looked around the basement wearily.

"We know that, but why are we down here? Is our 'permeate solution hiding down here?" Butch sneered unkindly, but Brick knew it was just a rouse to hide how uneasy he truly was.

Honestly, he couldn't blame him. He didn't want to be down there any more than they did.

He moved over to one hidden back corner of the basement, without waiting for them. As he moved closer to the back corner, he realized that the floor had been concealed by an old tarp that looked as if it hadn't gotten moved in years. Brick swallowed thickly. The air had suddenly become suffocating as he got closer to the space. He didn't want to do what he was about to do, but Mitch had left him with few options.

Sucking in a breath, he reached down and grasped the tarp with one hand and was just about to pull it off, when a whistle across the room from Butch sliced though the stale air like a knife.

"So, _this_ is what he did with the skins? Huh. I thought he would have burned them by now."

Brick turned back around only to see Butch and Boomer gathered around another tarp on the other side of the basement. Dropping his own tarp, the red eyed man made his way back to his brothers. Peering over their shoulders at what was lying underneath the tarp, he scowled.

There were the tattered, shredded remains of the loose skin that once housed the Amoeba Bro's.

The 'skin' looked absolutely ridiculous now that there was nothing housed inside of it. The slashed gray skin was flaking and disintegrating in some spots, and there was a peculiar smell that was wafting off of the skin that made Brick's nose wrinkle in distaste.

"I can't believe that this is still here." Boomer stated lowly as he let his cobalt blue irises travel over the destroyed flesh. "

" _I_ can't believe that dad actually robbed _graves_ to get a hold of this shit." Butch grunted sarcastically, as he kicked the lump of skin that had once housed Slim. "He is one _twisted_ son of a bitc-"

"Well what was he going to do? _Knit_ them skin?" Boomer shot back.

"Well considering how he had to somehow peel the skin off the corpses and _sew it back together again_ – yeah, you could say that-"

Brick rolled his eyes as he backed away from his brothers and moved back over to the hidden tarp covered corner of the basement. It was hard to believe that they were talking so casually about some of the more deprived activities that their father partook in. It was sick. It was twisted. It was wrong. It was his life.

He had known for years now, ever since his 'birth', that the short little man that called himself their 'father' was far from a good person.

That was only one such example of the twisted things he had done. Brick could name many more. Too many to count.

He stopped in front of the tarp again and the suffocating feeling made itself present again. Brick grit his teeth. He really didn't want to do what he was about to do – especially to his brothers of all people, but Mitch had left him with little choice.

"Butch, Boomer, get over here. We have work to do." Brick barked, watching as both of his younger brother's green and blue eyes settled on him. Both cast a look down at the tattered remains of skin with a sigh.

Butch snorted as he dropped the tarp. "Hard to believe that those freaks were the first thing that dad was able to summon. Too bad they were practically worthless. If they had been obedient then maybe they would have lasted longer."

"We aren't much better in comparison." Boomer muttered as he cast one last look at the tarp before making his way over towards Brick. Butch let out a barking laugh. "Are you kidding? We're miles better in comparison – we actually have solid forms for one. And we're a hundred times stronger then they ever were. I'd say dad got lucky with us."

"He had help." Boomer muttered. As he wearily looked around the space. "He didn't summon us remember? We were part of a deal-"

Brick cleared his throat and Boomer fell silent. Butch adopted a grim look as he slowly made his way over to where his brothers were standing – neither bothering to conceal the uneasy looks on their faces as they stood in the confined space.

Boomer rubbed his arms as he looked around, before meeting Brick's glowing crimson irises. "Brick, please tell me we're not standing where I think we're standing?" he muttered lowly. Brick sighed.

"I told you… you two weren't going to like the idea I have for getting rid of Mitch." He grumbled as he knelt down and ripped the tarp up off of the ground – revealing an old circle with elaborate markings _burned_ into the floor.

Both men froze in terror.

"No. No. not that. Brick, please, not that…" Boomer whimpered as he slowly backed up into Butch. Normally the dark-haired male would have snapped at his younger brother's clumsiness, but his forest green irises were locked into the circle – no, the _pentagram_ etched harshly into the floor.

"Brick… I know what you're thinking and I'll tell you right now: it's not a good idea." He murmured, not taking his eyes off of the circle that was once their prison. "We… we don't need to use powers from… _that side._ We can take him in our other forms. We're more than capable. Look at how many others have met their ends by our claws – he'll be no different."

"Well that's where you're wrong. He will be." Brick sighed. "Since we failed to finish him off the last time, he's gone and made himself a whole armory of silver bullets. You know: the only things that can actually kill us?" he challenged with an irritated growl.

"We know, we saw." Boomer bit back. "I've already gotten shot by one of them."

"What's your point Brick?" Butch sighed, still eyeing the pentagram like it was going to attack him.

"The _point_ is boys, is that he needs to be dealt with. It's not just the silver that poses a problem now – it's the whole town, or it will be soon enough. You heard what Mitch said: he and the Professor plan on getting the entire town involved. Dad will only be able to do so much to stop them, and then we'll have a man-hunt on our heads. and if the whole town is armed with silver and actively searching for us… well, there's a high chance that we won't live to see next month."

"So…" Butch trailed off, waiting for Brick to finish.

"So, we off him and make an example of him. Show the rest of the town that we are not to be tried with. That we are the dominate species. You know the people around here lack a back-bone – look how much we've gotten away with the last few months. They'll look to Mitch to lead them, but if he's out of the picture… well… then they'll just return to be meek little lambs, and we'll have total control again."

"Yes, I understand that part, but why do we have to go through… _that._ Butch hissed. "We're strong enough as it is. We don't need to… use… powers from the other side!" he gowned out. "I know what we are – but we're never had to draw on our other abilities. Hell I don't even know if dad knows about them-"

"We were given these abilities for a reason Butch – I say that its high time that we use them" Brick countered, causing Butch to fall silent. "and fuck dad. He doesn't have a damn clue about what we can really do. He thinks he knows what we are… but he can't be farther from the truth." He snarled, eyes flashing a sinister red.

He closed his eyes and focused on calming his angered breaths down, before opening them again to stare his younger brothers down.

We can't take Mitch head-on – not when he has that much silver, he'll definitely kill one of us – unlike those fools in town, _he's_ a decent shot." He nodded to Boomer's healed leg, before rubbing his previously injured shoulder from when Mitch had stabbed him. "I don't really feel like losing one of you, or myself possibly."

"Brick-"

"Besides, the wolves are unpredictable and savage at the best of times. When we fight him, we need to have clear heads." Brick interrupted, not giving Boomer a chance to speak.

"The power has been available to us for quite some time. The both of you know that, but we've never had a reason to use it… until now. There are more hunters like him out there boys. If he's here, others will follow. For all we know a whole army of them could show up tomorrow. We need to be ready." Brick muttered softly as he traced the edges of the pentagram with his fingertips.

Raising his hand to his mouth, he sunk his pointed teeth into palm of his hand – watching as dark red, almost _black_ blood rose out of the holes and pooled in his palm. Brick let out a bitter laugh as he showed his bloody palm to his brothers, before kneeling beside the pentagram and pressing his bloody hand to the circle.

A sudden stiffness filled the basement, before suddenly the pentagram began to glow a faint red. A quiet hum filled the air, as Bricks blood was slowly absorbed into the circle, causing both Butch and Boomer to back up slightly – Boomer's eyes were wild with panic, while Butch's dark green orbs were strangely blank.

Brick glanced up from the now glowing circle to look at his younger brothers – and Butch and Boomer were taken aback by the almost sorrowful look that was in their brother's normally harsh and unforgiving crimson irises.

"We're not of this world, Butch, Boomer – it's time we stopped trying to convince ourselves that we are."

"By damning ourselves?" Boomer snorted humorlessly.

"We've been damned since birth Boomer – this isn't going to change anything." Butch muttered hollowly from beside the blue-eyed man. Slowly, he stepped forward towards the dimply glowing pentagram and sunk his teeth into his hand, allowing his own black blood to spill forth from the bleeding gashes.

He knelt down by Bricks side, palm outstretched as he slowly lent towards the circle. Just before his bleeding palm made contact with the circle, he glared at Brick – forest eyes becoming mere slits, as they darkened to an ominous black.

"I'm doing this for _her."_ He growled. "I'm doing this to protect _her_."

Brick nodded. "That's all we're trying to do." He assured him. "We just want to protect them. That's all we've ever done. After all, they were promised to us." He rumbled as he looked down at the glowing pentagram.

"If we do this – we'll be safer for them to be around in our other forms… which – they'll have to see eventually." He said softly, trying to convince himself.

Butch nodded tensely as he placed his hand into the glowing circle with a snarl as the dim light got brighter – finding that he couldn't move. The humming sound got louder, and Boomer suddenly realized that it wasn't humming he was hearing any more, but instead low chanting.

He scowled at the dammed pentagram and his older brothers, before letting out a frustrated hiss. Before he could think twice, he strode over to his kneeling brothers. Forcing himself in-between them, he bit down into his palm, letting his dark blood mix in with theirs as he slammed his open palm down into the circle – causing it to glow brighter than before, as the low chanting noises became clear to them.

"For her." Boomer snarled viciously as his own stormy blue eyes turned black. "It's to spare her. That's all." He let his thoughts take him back to Bubbles, and how sweet and innocent she was – and how he would do _anything_ to keep her that way.

The circle sparked and crackled with energy as all three of the brother's blood was absorbed into the pentagram, and a harsh red light enveloped them – the chanting in the background got louder and louder until it became a roar in their ears. A sudden pressure crashed down onto them, as an invisible force flattened them to the ground – effectively knocking the wind out of them – and forcing pained grunts out of them.

Amongst the loud chanting, another noise made its way into their ears. It was laughter, but it was far from friendly. The laughter bounced around inside their skulls, taking on two different pitches at once – ranging from ear-splittingly high, to a deep, omniums chuckle. All three of the boys cringed beneath the invisible weight – knowing full well what being was behind the frightening laughter – and hoping that they wouldn't have to meet it face to face.

The laughter died down after another moment before a sinister hiss replaced it.

" _ **IMBRACE THE BEAST."**_

It all happened at once.

Their blood turned to fire in their veins, and their heads felt as if they were about to split open, almost as if someone had smashed their heads into the stone floor. Their bones shifted and cracked beneath their skin – rearranging themselves – as waves of pain coursed through their bodies.

Their howls of pain echoed off of the basements cold stone walls and around the Jojo estate, reverberating off of the rolling hills surrounding the mansion.

If anyone had been walking near the estate, they would have said that the otherworldly cries sounded like three tortured souls losing what little humanity they had, and slipping farther into madness.

* * *

 **Gypsy Campgrounds**

Brat was suddenly startled out of a sleep-induced trance. She glanced around the deserted campgrounds beside her spot by the fireside -Brute was sitting beside her quietly with her eyes closed. If her older sister was bothered by her sudden start, she didn't say.

She had heard something on the wind – a scream, several screams in fact – but they weren't normal screams. Something about them was wrong. So very wrong. It made her blood turn to ice.

She glanced around once more, before nudging Brute, who had been mediating beside her.

"Do you hear that?" She asked quietly. Brute cracked open her deep green orbs to glare at her cerulean eyed sister, and shook her head. "No. But I feel it." she murmured, closing her eyes.

Brat sat back on her hunches as she waited for her older sister to say something. When it became apparent that the ink covered woman wasn't going to say anything, she asked "So, what do we do now?"

"Nothing." Brute responded hollowly, opening her Kelly-green eyes. "We're too late. The hunter, the professor – they're all too late. Hell is going to be unleashed, and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it."

"Hell's gates have already opened – things are just going to get worse from here on out."

Both sisters turned as Berserk suddenly appeared at the opening of the tent with a solemn look on her face. Turning her cherry red eyes up towards the moon, she shook her head sadly.

 _The moon was more than half full._

In another week, the luminous pale sphere would be full again, and the true powers that her – she shuddered inwardly – _cousins_ possessed, would be at full strength.

 _And then they would be completely unstoppable._

She sighed as she beckoned her sisters over to her. "Come girls. I fear that we are no longer protected by our guardians anymore. All we can do is hope for the best and pray that we are not killed before this is all over."

Brat dutifully made her way over to Berserk and slipped inside the open tent flap with a string of quiet curses. Brute stood up, and was about to follow her blonde sister inside, only to for the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up – almost as if she was being watched.

She looked around the campgrounds before scanning the surrounding tree-line, hoping to see if anyone was there, only to see nothing.

The inked woman frowned and narrowed her eyes at the tree-line. There was someone there, she was sure of it – they just weren't allowing her to see them. If they could hide their presence from a seer like her, they were a being shrouded in shadow – a being that she needed to be weary of. Casting one last look at the trees, she moved over to the tent. Berserk shot her a questioning look and stopped her just before she could enter the tent.

"What did you see?" she asked lowly. Brute shook her head. "They don't want to be seen sister. They're hiding themselves in the shadows – I cannot see them. Just leave it alone. When they want to speak, they'll reveal themselves." With that, she disappeared into the tent after Brat.

Berserk turned her attention to the wall of trees surrounding them, as her light red eyes pierced though the veil of darkness. She felt the familiar feeling of eyes on her skin and she tried to pin-point where it was emanating from. After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, she was about to head back inside, and that's when she saw it:

Out of the coroner of her eye, she caught the fleeting glance of two pale green eyes staring back at her from the darkness.

* * *

 _Red mist._

 _That was all he could see. Red mist coated very inch of the basement, getting into his lungs and forcing him to cough violently. His eyes watered as he squinted, trying to see if he could spot Mojo anywhere._

 _What happened exactly… ah yes that's right – the machines that he and Mojo had been working on for months had exploded suddenly on them – too much of a charge had been running though it – it couldn't take it… he had warned him…_

 _He coughed again as he struggled to his feet – still disorientated as he tried to gather his bearings._

 _Where was Mojo? He had been standing right beside the machine when it had exploded… but he didn't see him anywhere, the thick red mist was preventing him from seeing anything._

 _Speaking of… where had this mist come from anyways? He had been expecting the normal black tinted smoke that was a tell-tale sign the something had exploded… not this odd red fog._

 _He shuddered as he looked around, trying to wave away some of the crimson clouds from his face as he frantically looked around for his lab partner. Something was wrong here. The air felt thick, like he was suffocating, and he couldn't shake the feeling that someone – or something, was watching him._

 _He whirled around, trying to pinpoint where the feeling was originating from, only to see nothing but red. Trembling, he moved forward slowly, trying to feel for a wall, or something that he could grab onto until the fog cleared._

" _Mojo." He whispered, "Mojo where are you? Are you alright? Mojo please respond – let me know here you are!"_

 _Silence answered him._

 _He grouped around blindly in the thick haze. Just where the hell had he landed? Had the blast really blown him back that much? He shook his head as he struggled to remember the events that had lead up the blast._

 _The machine had been operating perfectly fine before Mojo had instead on upping the voltage that was being fed into the device… honestly, he didn't know what to call it. It looked like a simple metal box with a few blinking lights on it – it was nothing in comparison to some of their larger, more impressive inventions. Mojo had presented it to him a week ago, already built, just needing a few adjustments – one of them being to figure out a way to get the little box to hold a powerful current of electricity for an extended period of time._

 _He had found it odd, as usually they would build machines together, not to mention the fact that he hadn't even told him what it was supposed to be used for in the first place._

 _Never the less, he had agreed to help finish the invention, he was curious about what the little metal box would be used for after all. So he had developed a way to feed cable into the box that would help it conduct a strong electric current. He had just been happy that it had worked the first time they had tried it out._

 _Now he was thinking that it had worked a little_ too _well._

 _He coughed again. "Mojo if you're in here somewhere answer me please!" he begged as he swatted more red tinted mist away from his face. Moving deeper into the thicker part of the fog, he started to hear things soft noises in the fog surrounding him that sounded almost like static. He stopped in his tracks and shut his eyes as he strained to hear were the noise was coming from._

 _After a minute of tense listening to the soft noises, he was able to determine that they were actually whispers… and they did not belong to Mojo._

 _The last thought made him freeze in dread. Something – no, someone was down in the basement with them. How the other person got in without either him or Mojo seeing them was a mystery to John. He brushed the thought aside as he struggled to concentrate on that the mysterious voice was saying._

"… _you…."_

"… _Exist…"_

"… _power…"_

"… _Summon creatures…"_

"… _you accept…?"_

"I do."

 _John froze again – Mojo, the last person who had spoken was deffinently Mojo, but then who was he speaking too…?_

" _Mojo?" he coughed, stepping in the direction where his partner's voice was emanating from. "Mojo, Mojo can you hear me? Where are you?"_

 _There was a soft chuckling sound that made his blood run cold. It was the same laughter he had heard earlier… right after the device had exploded and the odd red mist had filled the room… Fearing the worst he moved quicker, swatting the clouds of crimson mist away as he blindly moved to the spot where he had heard Mojo talking just seconds before._

" _ **Well, well Mojo… it looks like your little friend is coming to play… I'll leave you for now… remember our deal… ta ta…"**_

 _John's eyes widened at the sound of the second voice and he swore that his heart missed a beat. The other voice was… otherworldly. It echoed around the enclosed space, and had two different pitches, almost sounded as if there were two people speaking as opposed to one._

 _He suppressed a shudder and forced his feet forward, "Mojo! Where are you- OMF!" he grunted as he suddenly tripped over something in his path. Throwing his hands forward to catch himself from falling, he slammed his knees into the stone floor below with a pained hiss, as he turned around to look at what had caused him to trip – only to come face to face with non-other then Mojo himself._

" _Mojo! Oh, thank god, there you are! I've been calling you! Why didn't you answer me? I was worried that you had been knocked unconscious by the blast-"_

" _Nonsense John, I can assure you that I am perfectly fine… Better then fine actually." The short, ape-like man assured him as he helped him to his feet. John glanced around wearily. "Where is the other person?" at that Mojo froze as his face paled slightly. "What on earth are you talking about John?" he asked slowly._

" _The other person you were talking to just moments ago." John muttered looking around the basement in confusion. The red mist was starting to clear from the enclosed space rapidly, as if someone had opened a window, allowing the fog to escape from its enclosure – allowing him to see the rest of the basement clearly. "I heard you talking to someone, I couldn't see who it was and I have no clue how they got in, but I am certain that there was someone else down here with us!" he exclaimed as he gestured around the dark area._

" _You must be mistaken John, there is no one else down here with us." Mojo responded coolly as he looked around. "You must have hit your head. I was not speaking to anyone else down here. We are the only two people down here." He informed the baffled man._

" _But I heard someone else." John insisted as he checked every corner of the basement – frantically searching for the owner of the second voice he had heard. "I'm positive of it! I don't know where they went, but I know that I heard someone else down here with us!"_

" _But John look around you – there is no one down here." The ape-like man pointed out with a small frown. "Yes, I know that," John snapped as he continued to move around the basement – searching for someone who wasn't there. "I can see that, but where did he… it… whatever it was go-"_

" _John, allow me to assure you that I was not speaking to anyone – I think you must be confused. You possibly hit your head on something during that blast, as no one else has come into the basement except for you and myself." Mojo stated firmly, crossing his hairy arms in defiance. "But… I could have sworn that I heard you talking to someone…" John muttered as he gave the basement one last look over, only to see that the basement was empty and clean aside from various shards of metal from the machine that the explosion had blown to bits._

" _Your ears might be ringing." Mojo supplied. "That might be the cause behind you hearing voices. Mine are ringing from the blast as well. Do you need medical attention perhaps?"_

" _No, no. I'm fine." The tall man relented slowly shaking his head. "I guess you're right… There isn't anyone here… maybe I am just hearing things… that odd mist didn't help things either."_

" _No, it didn't." Mojo agreed, with a sigh that sounded oddly close to relief. "and I must apologize to you for the explosion – you warned me that the machine wouldn't be able to take the current and I did not listen – do forgive me."_

" _It's fine… though why did you make that thing anyways?" the professor asked as he eyed the shorter man. Mojo bit back a grin as he glanced past him – staring at something that the taller man hadn't seen. "I will let you know later on." He promised. " One could say that it was a… prototype of sorts, for a much… much… much larger project."_

 _The professor couldn't help but cringe slightly as a sense of dread as an almost cruel gleam entered the dark, beady eyes of his partner. There was something that he wasn't saying – something that he was hiding. But John was too confused to try and decipher what the shorter man was implying._

" _Well, all the same, I think I need to get some fresh air." He muttered as he rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Yes, I agree, I think that we are finished for the day." Mojo agreed as he guided John over to the basement steps, stepping over stray pieces of shrapnel in the process. "I will clean up this mess later. You should head home John, I am sure that Sara will be expecting you."_

" _Yes, I supposed you're right." John sighed as he slowly began to assent the old wooden steps. Pausing briefly on the top step, he glanced back down at the dark basement and the smaller man. "Also Mojo? I'm sorry about your machine. I had hoped that it could handle the current, but I suppose my wiring was faulty. I didn't mean to blow it up. I'm sorry that it didn't work."_

" _Do not worry John." Mojo said with a small smile as he looked around the now desolate basement, before his eyes landed on an inconspicuous circle on the floor, with intricate designs etched into it – looking as if it had been burned onto the floor._

" _Everything worked out_ perfectly."

John bolted up in bed, heart pounding and sweat matting his night-clothes to his body. Wiping the remaining traces of sleep from his eyes, he frantically glanced around the dark room he was in – still confused by the effects of being woken up so suddenly – only to realize that he was in his bedroom – his wife sleeping soundly beside him.

Glancing out one of the many bedroom windows told him that it was still night time – probably nowhere close to sunrise. He turned over onto his left so he was facing his bedside table, and squinted to read the time that the ornate clock on the night stand was displaying.

 _3:47 in the morning._

He groaned as he slapped a hand against his face. _What a dream… though, it was less of a dream and more of a nightmare-_

"John what's wrong? Are you alright?" Sara moaned as she turned over to face him groggily, brushing some of her wild red curls out of her face, she he was staring into her stunning green eyes.

John smiled wearily at the disheveled state of his wife. Even one of the most gorgeous woman in the world couldn't escape the horrors of bed-head, and hers had always been worse than other peoples.

Shaking off the amusing thought, he silently shook his head. "I'm fine dearest, really I am!" he promised, catching an unconvinced look from her. "I just was having an unpleasant dream. Everyone gets them from time to time. Nothing to be concerned about, I promise."

Sara sighed gently, the action blowing some of her wild red curls out of her face, as she snuggled into his chest, rubbing it gently in an attempt to sooth the troubled man. "Bad dream?" she asked lowly, as she felt one of his arms curl around her waist, keeping her against him.

"No…" he finally admitted, as he watched one of her eyebrows rise out of the corner of his eye.

"More like a memory."

* * *

 **Bellum manor**

Bubbles suppressed a yawn that threatened to escape her, as she moved sluggishly down the manors quiet upper hallway.

It was early in the morning – much earlier than when she usually got up. Peeking out of the heavy curtains that covered the second-floor windows, she saw that the world outside was still dark and had not yet awoken from its slumber.

She let out a quiet sigh as she placed the curtain back down and moved silently though the hallway. A sudden feeling of loneliness swept over her and her petal pink lips turned into a sad frown. Suddenly, she didn't want to be the only one up any more. Her feet began to move on their own accord and automatically took her to the end of the hallway where Buttercup's room was located.

She had just placed her hand on the doorknob and was about to turn it, only for her to snap to her senses again. Pressing her ear to the door, she her a soft snore emanating from Buttercup's room – a tell-tale sign that she was still asleep. Slowly the blonde dropped her hand from the doorknob and stepped back, wringing her hands with an embarrassed flush on her cheeks.

 _What was she doing?_ Buttercup of all people certainly wouldn't be up at this hour in the morning. If she woke her up at this time in the morning, the dark-haired sister would have surly had yelled at her and sent her away before going back to bed.

Bubbles looked around the dark hallway as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise uncomfortably. She had been woken up by the strangest feeling – almost as if someone was watching her…

Bubbles shook her head as she moved away from Buttercup's closed door. That was impossible, her windows were on the second floor of the house and her drapes were shut. There was no way that someone could see in – she was probably just overly tired, due to her not being fully awake at the time. But still… she honestly had no idea what would have caused her to wake up so early.

The blonde shuddered again and rubbed at her arms. The hallway was still dark, even though she could tell that morning was just on the horizon. She hated the dark, ever since she was a little girl, she always remembered that she had never liked it. There was something about it that always found ways to scare her – even though she was nearly twenty, she still found herself dreading when nighttime came.

Especially now. Ever since the wolf had chased after her and had bitten down on her arm so hard that she had bled-

Bubbles dug her nails into the palms of her hand to snap herself out of it. Best not to think about that now – she was already on edge enough as it was.

A soft groan from Blossom's room caught her attention as she slowly made her way over to her eldest sister's room, that was situated just before Buttercup's. Knocking softly on the door, Bubbles turned the knob and poked her head into the room, only to see her auburn-haired sister sitting up in bed with her face in her hands.

"Blossom?" Bubbles called timidly, causing her rose orbed sister to slowly turn in bed to face her. "Oh, good morning Bubbles." She muttered tiredly as she ran a hand though her long, flowing locks. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Bubbles hummed as she moved into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her with a soft _click._ Blossom scooted over in her bed and patted the free space beside her, inviting Bubbles to sit with her. The bleu eyed girl immediately crawled into bed beside her and rested her head on her shoulder, sighing content as Blossom began to comb her fingers though her soft golden tresses. "Are you alright?"" she asked concerned. Bubbles nodded slowly. "Yes, I just got scared waking up to a dark room – you know I was never a fan of the dark. Then I just got lonely… I was hoping that you or Buttercup would be up… I hate being the first one up. It was to quiet."

"So, what woke you up then?" Blossom asked again after a moment. "It's much too early for you to be up."

"I… I'm not quite sure." Bubbles admitted after a moment. "It sounds silly, but I almost thought that someone was watching me sleep, or something ridiculous like that. But that's impossible – no one can see into the second-floor windows." She let out a small laugh, as she felt herself calming down slightly.

"I don't know what's wrong with me right now. I suppose I'm just paranoid about… well… the bites." She averted her sky-blue eyes from Blossom's candy pink one's, but the older girl only nodded. "Yes… I suppose that's a good reason to be worried… isn't it?"

"Buttercup doesn't think that we'll turn into… you know what." Bubbles supplied. "I mean… I hope not… I don't feel any different than normal, but… I mean… oh I don't know anymore." She muttered, frustrated with her inability to describe how she was feeling.

"I don't think that we'll turn, if that makes you feel better." Blossom supplied gently. "You're just saying that to make me feel better." Bubbles mutter sullenly. "No, truly." Blossom argued. "I don't think that we will. Buttercup brought up a good point – if anything we would have turned last full moon, but we didn't, and the next one is…" she cringed slightly. "In a week or so… and we haven't felt any different. Maybe not all bites change a person?"

"I guess." Bubbles muttered as she looked around her sister's room. Blossom sighed as she returned to stroking her sister's golden locks. "What else is bothering you Bubbles? You mentioned that you thought you were being watched?"

"I suppose. But that's impossible – no one can see into our windows unless they climb a tree. But I don't have a tree near my windows… I'm just being paranoid… I'm tired and paranoid… that's not a good combination." The blonde girl admitted with a bitter laugh. "I just feel like a child. Here I am, crawling into bed with you and crying about being scared of the dark and being alone. I feel like I'm five years old all over again."

Blossom hummed gently, the vibrations running along the top of her head. "You never did like being alone much." She reminisced. "You'd always beg either me or Buttercup to stay with you during the night when we were old enough to have our own rooms."

"I was never a fan of the dark." Bubbles shrugged. "and you know that I don't like being alone even more. I suppose those two things combined made it unbearable for me as a child." There was a brief pause before she finally admitted with a quiet whisper "I never really understood why. I suppose a part of me always expected some sort of monster to appear from the shadows." She turned her head to look out one of the windows adjacent to Blossom's bed with a grim look.

"I guess I wasn't wrong… Now I really know that there _are_ monsters out there, in the shadows… waiting for the right moment to attack."

"Don't think about it like that-" Blossom protested weakly, only to feel Bubbles's head to brush against her neck as the dainty blonde shook her head. "There's no other way to look at it Blossom. You've seen what they can do…" she trialed off as she awkwardly wrapped her eldest sister in a hug.

"… and in a little less than a week, they're going to be on the lose again."

A tense hush fell over the two sisters as they redirected their attention back to the window, where they watched the sun rise over the trees in silence, casting long shadows on the snow-covered ground, and blanketing the world in a cold red glow – almost as if the rising sun could foretell the bloodshed that would soon fall upon the small town in a few short nights.

Nether of the girls noticed a thin figure with wild black hair slowly slip back into the foreboding tree-line and vanish without a trace, leaving no footprints behind in the snow.

Almost as if she had never been there at all.

* * *

 **Michelson household**

Boomer dismounted off of his house and dropped onto the fresh white snow with a soft _crunch._

He gave the area he was in a quick once over before leading Thor over to a nearby pine tree so he could tie his reins around it, making sure that Thor wouldn't bolt in his near absence.

He shuddered as he glanced around the small clearing that the log cabin that Mitch and his grandmother lived in. The small wooden cabin was located just on the very outskirts of Townsville, right before the main entrance to the forest – a fitting home for the famed hunter, and his only surviving immediate family.

The lean blonde cracked his neck as he stared at his hand. _There wasn't a single trace of the self-inflected bite marks that he had caused the night before._

Boomer ran his tongue across the backs of his teeth as he clenched and relaxed his fists. Ever since the… _event_ that had transpired several days ago in the basement, his senses had been sharper – he felt even stronger than before, and he wasn't completely sure, but he was almost positive that his already amazing healing factor had been improved, allowing him to heal twice as fast then before. He wasn't completely sure what else had changed from that night, but he was sure of one thing: if he and his brothers weren't damned before – they certainly were now.

Looking up towards the cabin in front of him, his eyes narrowed as he slowly moved towards it. He was on a mission. Mitch had become too much of an issue to ignore. He was so close to spilling their little secret to the entire town, and they could not have that.

They also couldn't let the girls find out about what they really were before they were ready to show them either, but with their luck, John had already told them about their bestial forms.

Oh well, that wasn't a problem – now it was revealing their true forms to the girls, and not having them panic or rat the out. Boomer himself had no idea if Brick had a plan to deal with that particular issue yet, but he wouldn't put it past his brooding older brother if he did.

He moved up the cabins wooden front steps and approached the heavy oak door, before rapping on it politely with his knuckles three times. There was a slight movement behind the door, before the sound of a lock being undone was head. Boomer put on his best smile and was more than ready to great Mitch – only the person who answered the door wasn't the lean hunter he had been expecting.

"Oh um, hello?" Boomer sputtered at the sight of the small elderly lady, clutching a cane, standing at the now open door. "This is the Michelson residence correct?" A tense nod from the little old lady confirmed what he thought. "Alright… is Mitch here per chance?" he asked again nervously – not liking the look that the old woman was giving him.

The older woman's mouth twisted as if she had bitten into something sour. "What do you want with my grandson you _demon."_ She hissed venomously, catching the blonde-haired man off guard.

 _Did she somehow know? Could she see?_

"I… I', sorry ma'am, but I really don't know what you're talking about." Boomer coughed as he averted his eyes from the hate-filled eyes of the old woman standing before him. The action only served to infuriate her farther.

"Don't play coy with me you vile creature." She hissed as she took a small step towards him, her cane making a heavy thud on the deck boards outside. "I know that you've come for my grandson, but you can't have him! Your kind has killed so many – but I won't let you take my grandson too!" she took another slow step forward, causing Boomer to back up, weighing his options in his head.

He couldn't very well attack her in the daylight – that was murder no matter how he could try and justify it, but he couldn't very well let her wander about and spew this nonsense about him and his brothers around town! God forbid that _someone_ believed her… He had no idea how she knew what he was – for all he knew she was a damn witch who could send him into oblivion. Somehow, he doubted that was the case, however he had no intentions of finding out.

All he could do for now was play the fool. A part that he was very will accustomed to.

"Ma'am, I really have no clue who you're referring too." He murmured gently as he held up his hands pacifying. "I really think that you have me confused with someone else-"

"LIAR!" The elderly woman nearly screeched. "You may be able to fool the others, and you may have pulled the wool over my grandson's eyes, but you cannot hide from me. I know what you are – I've seen your kind before. I don't know why you've come back, but you will not touch my Mitch, you demon-"

"Grams, what in god's name are you yelling?" Came a concerned voice from back somewhere in the cabin. There was the sound of feet treading softy, but quickly towards the front door, before Mitch suddenly appeared behind the old woman.

"Who are you yelling those things at Grams? Jeeze, I think you're starting to go senile you old coot." The still ragged looking hunter murmured fondly as he looked down at the old woman, before gently taking her shoulders and guiding her back into the cabin. "Now, who were you yelling those things at?"

The old woman pointed a gnarled finger in Boomer's direction, the bitter look never leaving her face for a moment. "Behold grandson: the beast that mauled your sweet little face has come back to finish the job."

"What?" Mitch asked disbelievingly as he glanced in the direction of where she was pointing, only for his eyes to widen in shock. "Oh, Boomer! My apologies, I wasn't expecting anyone to visit today!" the young man admitted in surprise upon seeing Boomer standing outside. The cobalt blue man offered Mitch a weak wave. "Hello Mitch… I was going to ask if I could come in, but if my presence disturbs your grandmother that much, I can go-"

"No. no, no! I'm sorry about that, one moment please." Mitch held up a finger as he turned his attention back to his grandmother. "Grams that's no beast, that's Boomer Jojo. Why would you call him those things?"

"Because that entire family is cursed!" the older woman near shrieked. "Don't let him pull the wool over your eyes my dear, he's come to kill us-"

"Grams, have you had your medication today?" Mitch asked gently, shooting Boomer an apologetic look out of the corner of his eye. "You know you get confused when you don't take it. Come on, let's get you back to bed." He murmured as he gestured for Boomer to come in. The tall blonde watched as Mitch giddied the elderly woman down a hallway off the far-right side of the cabin, before returning to where he was standing to shut the door behind him.

Mitch let out a sigh as he watched the elderly woman shuffle into a room, shutting the door behind her with a soft _click_ , before turning to face Boomer again with an apologetic look on his face.

"Right… sorry about her." Mitch apologized as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, offering Boomer a weak smile. "She's very old-fashioned that one. It doesn't help that her mind is starting to slip a little."

He sighed sadly as he glanced in the direction where his grandmother had disappeared to. "She's a sweet lady, she really is – just ignore any insult that comes out of her – she's not all here anymore I'm afraid."

"Oh, don't worry about it Mitch." Boomer gave him a strained smile as he glanced over to the lean man. "I'm sure she meant nothing by it… she must have me confused for someone else." He muttered weakly as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. Mitch rose an eyebrow at the blonde man's tense behavior, but decided not to comment on it. Instead he shrugged, "Well, you said you wished to discuss something with me?" he asked curiously, causing Boomer to nod in conformation.

"Yes, I did." He confirmed. "It's about what we briefly talked about that day in town when we were with the girls."

Mitch paused before a look of realization crossed over his features. "Yes, that's right – how did your date go with them, might I ask? It's rare that I see them with other men aside from the Professor – he keeps them under lock and key don't you know. He only wants the best suitors for them." He shook his head as he let out a small chuckle. "I don't know how you convinced him to let them spend the day with you three, but I'm glad that you got them out of the manor for a bit. I have all the respect in the world for the Professor, but sometime I think that he keeps them a little too sheltered – though you didn't hear that from me."

"It went very well thank you." Boomer offered Mitch another strained smile, opting to avoid telling him that they had more or less snuck the girls out of the manor without their father knowing. "It was a nice day – nicest my brothers and I had for a while."

Mitch nodded approvingly. "Good, good. They seemed like they were in good hands, so I wasn't worried about them."

 _Oh Mitch._ Boomer thought darkly, as he bit back a sick grin that threatened to spread across his handsome features. _You have no idea, do you?_

"… But anyways, back to what you were saying before, what did you need to talk to me about?" Mitch asked. "If it's about the creatures in the woods, I still can't tell you anymore then what I already did unfortunately. The Professor and I have plans to meet with your father soon and discuss what these things are before we tell the town. The more influential people we have on our side, the easier people will have to believe what we say."

Boomer grit his teeth, remembering back to what Brick had told him before riding out to the cabin:

" _You're going to have to lure him out Boomer. You're going to have to convince him to meet us during the next full moon."_

" _and how do you expect me to do that Brick? He's already on edge – he knows what we are. There's no way in Hell that he's going to agree to come out alone during a full moon."_

" _He doesn't know that_ we _know though. He doesn't suspect us."_

"… _are you telling me that you want me to-"_

" _Tell him. Let him know that we know what we are as well. See if you can get him to meet us in the abandoned asylum – we'll take it from there."_

"… _and once I convince him? What then?"_

" _That, you will leave up to me. I have a plan. He's not going to get away this time."_

The dirty blonde shook his head, as he leaned forward, motioning for Mitch to do the same. "There's no need for that Mitch… we already know what they are."

Mitch fell deadly silent as he stared at Boomer disbelievingly. "You… What do you mean… do you mean to tell me that you know what these creatures are?"

Boomer sucked in a quick breath. Time to put on his best act yet.

"Well, it wasn't exactly hard to guess what you and the Professor seem to think it is." He stated coolly. " _The only thing that hurts it is silver?"_ he mimicked. "I only know of one creature that is mortally wounded by silver – and that is a _werewolf."_

The cobalt eyed man fought back laughter at the poorly disguised shock that appeared on Mitch's face. The poor hunter really didn't have a clue. It was pathetic really. He almost felt bad for the startled hunter.

 _Almost._

"We've both done our fair share of growing up here." He pressed on, ignoring the astonished sputters coming from the brow haired man. "No doubt we both heard the same stories growing up. Townsville always did tend to favor the ones on werewolves and other dark creatures of the night."

"Well yes, that's right." Mitch coughed, as he finally found his voice. "I'm just… do you even believe it?" he asked quietly, quirking his already raised eyebrow even farther.

"Well, if I didn't, I wouldn't be coming here to talk to you about it, now would I?" Boomer cut across smoothly. "No. My brothers and I think that you're on to something… something big." He eyed Mitch calmly. "It'd why I've come and sought you out – we have information regarding the beasts."

"You do?" Mitch asked, leaning in closer to the tall blonde. "What can you tell me? Any information would be useful at this point."

"Of course, after all, I believe that my oldest brother Brick mentioned that we'd help you out in any way that we could." Boomer replied smoothly. _Now it was time to real him in._

"Over the past several months, since the attacks have been escalating, my brothers and I have been noticing a fair amount of activity in the woods around our area. It always happened at night during a full moon, but we could never see what was causing he commotion." He lied. Mitch nodded, hanging on to every word he said, urging him to continue.

Boomer cleared his throat. "Well, one night, a few months back before the attack on the gypsy camp, we caught a glimpse of what was in the woods surrounding our estate, and decided to follow it. We must have tracked it for a solid hour before it led us to this abandoned asylum just on the outskirts of town. We didn't dare go in obviously, but ever since then, we've been keeping a close eye on the place, and sure enough, almost every full moon, there is always some type of activity surrounding that place."

Mitch was silent, before nodding quietly. "and you haven't told anyone else about this?" Boomer shook his head. "Oh no, this was before you came back to town. No one had an inkling of what this thing- my apologies, _things_ are then. If we had told anyone we would have been a laughing stock, but you… you seem to know what you're doing. Your theory is the best one that I've heard of yet."

"I see." The brown-haired man muttered as he leaned back, rubbing his chin in thought. "Thank you for letting me know. This is useful information. Though I would advise tracking these creatures farther. They are… well, capable of mass destruction as I'm sure you've figured out." He was silent again for another long moment before straightening slightly. "You said you tracked them to an abandoned asylum?"

"Yes, I don't know if you remember the Townsville insane asylum? It closed about ten or more years ago now as it fell on some hard times. It's been sitting abandoned ever since. My brothers and I think that that's where the beasts have made their den." Boomer nodded, biting back a twisted grin at his spectacular lie. He could see that Mitch was growing more and more interested in the false story. All he had to do was push him a little bit more, and he would fall right into their trap…

"There was another reason why I came here." He pressed on, "My brothers and I believe that your theory is correct – after all, no beast is fast or powerful enough to cause this much damage. As insane as it sounds, a werewolf, or _Lycan_ does fit the discretion of the beast. Perhaps the supernatural world and ours are closer then we thought. The legends have to come from somewhere right?"

Mitch nodded, looking slightly unsure of the direction that the cobalt orbed man standing across from him was taking the conversation. "I suppose so." He agreed after a moment. "What exactly are you trying to say Boomer?"

"What I'm trying to say is that my brothers and I would like to help you in destroying the beasts." Boomer stated firmly, trying to convince the stubborn hunter to head out to the asylum. "They've terrorized our home for long enough, and they've killed far too many. This has to end."

 _Hook._

Mitch shook his head. "You and your brothers don't know what you're asking – these things will tear you apart without a second thought, I was lucky to escape with my life the last time."

"What if I told you that we're not just doing it for us." Boomer pressed, trying a different approach. Sure enough, the lean man cocked a thick brow at him. "What do you mean?"

Forcing himself to blush, he averted his eyes away from the hunter. "Well… you didn't hear this from me, but… I'm rather… fond of Bubbles, if you will. I want to keep her safe, no matter what. I'd feel more comfortable if I personally see to it that those beasts are dead, and have her walk around town without fear. You understand what I mean don't you?" he asked as he glanced back up at the lean man from underneath his bangs, only to see an almost pained look in his eyes.

 _Line._

"Yes… Yes, I do… I don't want Robin to ever have to live in that kind of fear… that's why I do this… I do if for her." Mitch muttered half to him and half to himself.

"Then let us help Mitch. We go hunting every month believe it or not, and we're actually pretty decent crack shots with the rifle. We can help you deal with the beasts, after all – four against three gives you a better advantage." Boomer pointed out. Seeing the hesitance still written across Mitch's face, he quickly added. "And to top it off – my brothers and I know the layout of the asylum decently well – we used to sneak in there when we were younger, it got us into loads of trouble with our father, but we know the layout of the building. We'll be able to find the beasts and deal with them twice as fast, they won't even know what will hit them. It'll be a in and out job." He promised.

Mitch was still as he mulled the offer over in his head. Finally, he looked up and Boomer was tempted to shudder at how cold the brown orbs of the hunter looked. It was the face of a true hunter going after his prey. Boomer smirked inwardly. _This was going to be fun…_

Sticking out his hand, he grasped the muscular blondes hand in a firm shake.

"Boomer – you've got yourself a deal."

 _Sinker._

This time, he didn't stop the broad grin the spread across his face as he grasped the hunters hand in his own. "Trust me. You _won't_ regret this."

"I hope not." Mitch muttered as he withdrew his hand. "I assuming that you and your brothers have weapons already?" Boomer nodded. "We have our own rifles yes, no need to supply us." Mitch nodded approvingly, before reaching across the kitchen table to grab one of boxes that were filled with silver amination. "Good, good. Of course, normal bullets won't do anything to these brutes like I've already told you, so let me give you some of these to take home-"

"NO!" Boomer almost roared just as Mitch was about to pass him a box. Catching the man's startled look, he mentally kicked himself as he held up his hands pacifyingly. "I-I mean, no thank you. I didn't bring a bag with me to carry them… why don't you just hold onto them for me, and when my brothers and I see you, we'll take them off your hands."

Mitch sent him an odd look as he nodded slowly, placing the ammo box back on the counter. "Right… I can do that too…" he muttered as his gaze hardened again. Glancing at a small calendar hanging on the wall past his head Mitch frowned. "Hell of a time you picked to tell me this mate – the next full moon is less than a week away…" he trailed off in thought.

"I want to end this nightmare as soon as possible." He admitted softly. "I need to get back to Robin before she becomes even more worried then she already is…. And this time around I've got the proper arsenal at my disposal. This time I'll be ready when I meet them again."

His eyes met Boomer's again and jutted his chin out to him. "Can you and your brothers be ready for the upcoming moon?"

Boomer nodded with a muted smile. "I was hoping that you'd ask that. Yes, we can. You could say that my brothers and I have been waiting for this moment for a while now."

Mitch nodded before glancing at a small clock on the wall. "My goodness. I've kept you for a while now, my apologies I'm sure that you have other places to be." Mitch apologized as he escorted Boomer towards the front door, which the blonde man was secretly grateful for – as he wanted nothing more than to leave the house upon seeing the silver bullets. Hell, even just being _near_ them made him want to itch…

"I'm sorry that our visit couldn't be more pleasant Boomer. Perhaps at a later date when all of this is cleared up we'll be able to catch up a bit." Mitch sighed tiredly as Boomer opened the front door a crack.

The statement made him want to laugh.

 _Yes, that would be nice. Too bad you would be alive for much longer. Perhaps when I'll see you in Hell we'll be able to chat about old times._ Boomer wanted to snort, instead opting to smile weakly. "Oh yes, certainly, it sounds like a plan." He managed to get out as he opened the door wider, allowing some of the cold winter air to enter.

"Boomer?" Mitch asked, stopping the tall blonde from leaving. He tuned his head slightly to look back at the lean hunter, who wore a small, but determined look on his face. "Thanks for offering to have my back. You don't have too, but it's nice that I'll have people I can rely on backing me up."

Boomer froze at his words, as the slightest smidgen of guilt washed over him. "Yeah. Sure. Of course." He muttered sullenly. "I'll see you at the asylum in little less than a week." And with that he thrust open the door and let himself out – slamming it shut behind him.

Letting out the breath he hadn't realized that he had been holding in, he sighed in relief, glad to finally be out of the stuffy log cabin and away from the insidious boxes of silver bullets…

He shuddered. That silver had been far too close to comfort. He could only hope that Mitch didn't read too much into his odd behavior, though he wouldn't put it past the cleaver hunter.

He shook his head as he stalked over to where he had tied up Thor. It didn't matter now. Now all he had to do was get back home and report that the plan had been a success to Brick – then they could start preparing for phase two…

Untying Thor from the tree he had wrapped the reins around, he led the massive gray horse away from the tree so he could climb back into the saddle. He had just managed to get one foot into the stirrup before a strange feeling washed over him suddenly.

He froze suddenly – one foot in the stirrup, as he looked around the surrounding area with narrowed eyes. _Someone was watching him._

Carefully maneuvering his foot out of the stirrup, he set it down carefully on the ground as he glanced wearily around.

"Hello?" He called out into the frigid air. "Who's there?"

Silence answered him.

Getting annoyed, he called out irritably "I know someone is out there – I'd advise you to come out now, it's not polite to spy on people."

Only the wind blowing through the trees responded his call.

A sudden chill ran over him as he peered around the tree-line, hoping to spot whoever was watching him. Finding nothing, he shook his head.

 _I must be losing my mind. My senses are too sharp now. I'm just hearing things._ He chanted to himself as he climbed back into the saddle. Gathering the reins, and sparing one last look around, he dug his heels into Thor's sides, and forced the gray horse into a canter, as they took off back towards the Jojo estate.

The air was still and silent around the clearing for a few tense moments after Boomer took off. After a slight pause – a small sigh sliced though the silence like a knife, and a pale figure with long, dark hair, and pale green eyes materialized out of the shadows of the tree-line. Peering around the trunk of a dead pine tree, the figure sadly gazed after his retreating figure.

"My son…"

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

"Well?"

Boomer shrugged off his coat as he turned in the direction were the growl had come from. Tuning around, he noticed Brick and Butch standing behind him in the dark hallway leading into the living room. Brick tapped his heel impatiently.

"Well?" the crimson eyed man asked again. "Did he take the bait?"

"Relax." Boomer rumbled as he cracked his neck, the popping noise echoing off of the dark wooden walls of the mansion ominously. "He took it just like you said he would – he was stubborn, but I wore him down. He's willing to 'work with us.'" He muttered as he used air quotes.

"And you told him about the asylum?" Brick questioned. Boomer simply nodded. "I made up some bullshit excuse that we 'followed' the beasts into the asylum. He now believes that it's their- or should I say… our den."

"Excellent." Brick cackled as he made his way over to Boomer, slapping a hand down on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you Boom. You were always the best actor out of the three of us. I knew you could handle it."

"and now all we have to do is deal with him in there and then we'll be in the clear… for the most part." Butch growled deeply as his forest green eyes flashed to black momentarily before snapping back to their normal deep green. Boomer shuddered at the sight. He couldn't tell if his own eyes were darkening to black like he had seen his brothers do on multiple occasions since the ritual in the basement – but he hoped that they weren't. It was unnerving enough when he saw his brother's do it.

Instead he snapped his fingers, catching their attention again. "He wants to know if you two will be ready by the next full moon. He's pretty eager to challenge us."

"Well good. I hope he is. I want a challenging fight. Hopefully he'll do better than those other hunters did." Butch chuckled demonically.

"We're not here to play with him Butch, we need to go in there and end it as quickly as we can." Brick reminded him with a low growl. "Remember, he still has a ridiculous amount of silver bullets – he could still be able to injure or even kill one of us if given the opportunity."

"Yeah, yeah, I haven't forgotten." Butch rumbled annoyed. "One can still dream though." He muttered as he looked down at his massive palms. Boomer secretly noted that his brother's hands were unmarked, just like his own. There was no evidence to suggest that he had bitten down on his one palm hard enough to draw blood.

None of them had any visible marks or scars from that night.

It was almost as if it had never happened…

"Right then, I'm going to assume that you have a plan to deal with him then once we get to the asylum?" Boomer asked quickly – desperately trying to change his train of thought. Brick nodded in conformation. "Indeed."

"Do you want to tell us?" Boomer pressed, cocking a brow in his eldest brother's direction. Brick shook his head. "It's still a work in progress, but if all goes well without a hitch, then we won't have to deal with him for much longer." He assured his blue-eyed brother with a dismissive wave.

"Just know that the _basement_ of that place is… very extensive… and _very_ hard to get out of if you don't know the layout… especially when its dark. It's like you're running blind down there…"

 _Alone, blind and terrified. That's_ exactly _how Mitch Michelson was going to feel soon enough. And this time, he would have nowhere to escape to._

* * *

 **Bellum Manor, a week later, night of the full moon. 8:33pm**

 _BAM._

The sound of heavy objects being pushed against various doors and walls echoed though the manor, as the girls watched their father push heavy cabinets and book cases against the main door leading into the house. Their mother stood by them in silence as she watched her husband push yet another book case up against the door – forming a blockade.

"You know…" she mumbled quietly to her daughters. "The last time he did this I thought he was going crazy, but seeing what happened to Mitch and those other poor hunters… I think he had the right idea all along."

"Yeah… he was more right then he realized." Buttercup grumbled sourly from beside the voluptuous woman. "Those things are ridiculously strong… Never mind." she trailed off slightly as she caught the slightly panicked looks her sisters were giving her from their spots beside her. "Buttercup darling, did you have something to say?" Sara asked, prompting the lime eyed woman to shake her head. "No, no… Just agreeing you and dad… we have to take… all necessary precautions I guess."

Sara nodded just as John wiped his hands on his trousers and stepped back to admire his work. "Well, I think that'll do it." he sighed as he turned around to face his family. "Nothing is getting in here tonight. Sara dear, you locked all the windows correct?"

"I did, and I checked all of them an hour ago." She responded slowly.

"Good, and your mother?" John asked worriedly.

"She's upstairs in her room. She's not going anywhere tonight." Sara paused as she wrung her hands on her red silken night robe. "I still don't understand why you made me lock her in there though – I swear that its some form of elder abuse-"

"Sara, you know I care about your mother too, but trust me: this is for her own safety." John promised. "She's not responding to her name anymore, and I don't want her wandering around the house tonight. If she somehow gets out and decides to go for a midnight stroll… there's a good chance that those things out there could get her… and I don't want that." He explained quietly. Sara nodded. "I suppose… But it still doesn't feel right-"

"Would you rather her safe in her room or wandering about out there with those things?"

Sara froze at the startling question, only for her to recover seconds later. "In here of course." She murmured softly, twisting her hands in her robe. John sighed and made his way over to his wife. Taking her by the shoulders, he gently steered her towards the grand staircase. "Let's just retire early tonight love… tensions are running high enough as it is."

"I suppose…" Sara relented with a tired sigh. She and John began to climb the stairs towards their bed-chamber, before she paused half-step and turned back around to glance back down at her daughters. "Girls, will you be alright staying down here alone?"

"We'll be alright mama, we aren't going to leave the manor tonight." Bubbles assured her with a forced smile that she struggled to keep on her face as she noticed Buttercup flinch beside her. John frowned slightly at the forced behavior his daughters were displaying, before nodding slowly – as if unconvinced by their act. "Very well, just don't stay up too late – and remember: I want all the lights off by nine o'clock at the latest. I don't want any potential light sources attracting those things over here if they are indeed out tonight."

"Understood papa." Blossom murmured quietly as she toyed with a strand of her long, soft hair. "Have a goodnight mama, papa." Sara smiled down at her daughters before blowing them a small kiss, as she and John proceeded to make their way up the rest of the stairs to the second floor. "Goodnight my darlings, pleasant dreams. We'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight." The girls responded in unison as they heard their parent's footsteps echo above their heads, before the sound of a door opening and closing signaled to them that their parents had locked themselves in their room for the rest of the night.

The girls glanced around the now silent house-hold nervously, before they released the breath that none of them had realized that they had been holding in. They glanced at each other as they shifted nervously in place, unsure of what to do in the dark silent hours that were ahead of them.

Finally, Blossom broke the tense silence.

"Well… Let's just… retire to the living room and figure out what to do… papa wants all of the lights out by nine, so that gives us some time to socialize I suppose."

"Suppose you're right Blossom." Buttercup agreed as she led the way to the manors living room – Blossom and Bubbles following closely behind her. The girls shuffled into the living room and collapsed on the luxurious sofas that were situated in the middle of the room. Buttercup fell back onto one, while Blossom and Bubbles took a seat on the one across from her. They didn't say anything for a moment as they tried not to think about the creatures that were out, possibly terrorizing another innocent victim.

Finally, when the antagonizing silence became unbearable, Bubbles hummed quietly to herself, catching her sister's attention. Blossom quirked a brow at her youngest sister, silently urging her to share what was on her mind.

"I wonder how the boys are doing?" Bubbles wondered idly. "They've been quiet again for the past few days. I hope they're alright."

"I don't know why you're so worried about them." Buttercup muttered from her spot on the sofa adjacent to her two other sisters. "I'm actually quite relived that we _haven't_ seen them. That way I won't have to see you-know-who, and deal with you-know-what."

"I suppose." Bubbles shrugged. "But still, you had to admit that that little date we went on was fun!"

"It was' fun' up until Butch decided to… not officially propose, but bring it up…? God I have no clue what he was playing at." Buttercup groaned as she massaged her temples in annoyance. "Besides, if they have any sense at all, they'll be locked up safe in that monster of a mansion tonight… after all… it's the full moon."

All three sisters turned to stare out the window at the pale, glowing orb shining high in the sky above them, bleaching the world outside in its pale light. Buttercup hummed low in her throat as she glanced over at her sisters from the coroner of her eye. "You two… still feel like yourselves… right?" she asked cautiously. Blossom nodded without turning away from the moon. "I feel fine… nothing out of the ordinary… what about you Bubbles?"

"Fine." Bubbles muttered curtly. "the same as I do every day. The bite doesn't even bother me anymore." She turned her head slightly to shoot Buttercup a concerned look. "Do you think we might change?"

"No… I wasn't sure before, but I don't think you will now." Buttercup reassured her blonde sister softly. "If you and Blossom don't transform under this full moon then the chances of you doing so at all, are very slim. Clearly nothing has happened so I don't think you have to worry."

She turned her body towards her sisters as she took in their sitting forms. "Strange…" she muttered softly. "Very strange… maybe the books were right after all…"

"Have you been doing some reading?" Blossom asked surprised. "I'm glad of course, but usually you're out doing some sort of sport instead."

Buttercup snorted. "I haven't done a single sport since we got here – I'm going soft." She shook her head with a small sigh. "I have been." She confirmed. "I've read every single book in here that I could find that mentioned werewolves of some kind… Not that there were many to begin with." She muttered darkly.

"Did you find anything interesting?" Blossom gently prompted. "… Depends on what you classify as interesting." Buttercup replied with a small grunt as she hosted herself up off of the couch. "Listen, I'm going to go for a little walk around the house – I need to stretch my legs. Come find me if you need anything."

Without giving her sisters anytime to respond, the dark-haired beauty turned and quickly left the room without another word, leaving Blossom and Bubbles alone. Blossom ran a hand though her long auburn hair with a confused look on her face. "Well that was… abrupt. I wonder what that was about?"

"No idea." Bubbles admitted with a yawn. Blossom gave her youngest sister a weary smile. "Are you tired already Bubbles?" The dainty blonde nodded in conformation. "Yes… I haven't been sleeping good at all this past week, ever since I woke up early that one day, I haven't been able to get a decent night's sleep since."

"Hrrm." Blossom hummed gently as Bubbles shifted against her, so her head was on her lap. "If you don't mind, I think I'm just going to take a little nap." She informed the stunning red-head. "Just for a little bit – don't let me sleep for too long. Wake me up if something happens or if those… well… you know what I'm talking about – decide to make an appearance at some point."

Blossom nodded as she began to stroke her sisters light coloured hair… the colour of sunshine, Blossom mused… something that she felt as if she hadn't seen in a while.

The soothing action began to make Bubbles feel even more tired, and began to lull her into a light slumber. As she closed her sky-blue eyes, Blossom couldn't help but let a small smile cross her face at the sight.

"That's aright Bubbles – you rest for now. You need it." she murmured gently, as she tilted her head to glance out the window at the luminescent moon once more with an almost hypnotized look in her rose coloured irises.

"We all do."

* * *

 **Townsville Train station, Boarding platform. 8:46pm**

Ace tapped his foot impatiently as he glanced at an old pocket watch hanging off of a rusty old chain.

"Come on, come on." He grumbled impatiently as he snapped the watch shut. "Where the hell is their train? They were supposed to be here half an hour ago… come on damn it, I don't want to be here after nine…."

The shrill sound of a steam whistle snapped him out of his thoughts, and he glanced up only to see that familiar bright lights of a train pulling into the towns train station. He wanted to sigh with relief – thank god they were here – any later and he would have left. Ever since the news of the latest attack in the woods, he was weary about going out after dark, should he encounter the thing that was responsible for the attacks.

Thankfully it hadn't come to that yet.

The train pulled into the docking platform he was standing on with a dry squeal as the conductor slammed on the brakes. His long, matted black hair was blown back by the sudden release of steam that the train engine let off, and he pushed his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose – not that it really mattered if anyone else saw his oddly colored eyes now. After all, the people he was waiting for were on the last arriving train for the day, and very few people rode the train at this time of night.

He tapped his foot impatiently as he watched the compartment doors open with a rusty creak the echoed off the almost tunnel-like structure that was the Townsville train station. He watched as a few tiered stragglers came out of some of the compartments carrying their luggage under their arms – barely shooting him a second glance as they headed for the exit doors located at both ends of the docking platforms on either side of the tracks.

Ace glanced around the open compartment doors irritably, hoping to catch a glimpse of the people he was waiting for. _Come on damn it – how long does it take for you dolts to get off a fucking train?_ He thought as he snuck a glance at his pocket watch again, only to see the time ticking closer to nine.

 _If they missed the fucking train I swear to god I'll beat the hell out of them myself-"_

"Daaaaa, lets goooooo Snaaake! I wanna get off da train!"

Ace perked his head up at the deep, stupid sound coming from the farthest train compartment and a slow grin crossed over his face. _That was them. It had to be. Only one person he knew spoke like that…_

He slowly made his way over to the train compartment where the long dawn out sentence was emanating from and stood in front of the open doors expectantly.

"Yessss, yessss Billy, jusssst a moment- Ouch! Sssstop pusssshing, we'll have to get out one at a time-"

Ace bit back a grin as the familiar lisp entered his ears. It used to be the most annoying sound in the world to him before he had gotten himself locked up – but now it was an almost comforting noise. Clearly at least one member of his crew still had their wits about them.

"Ay man Snake! Are you sure this is where the boss said to get off? This place is a bit of a dump man."

Ah yes, there was the third member. He couldn't misplace that heavy Spanish accent even if he tried. Again, just like the lisp, it was a sound that was oddly comforting to him. He hadn't realized how much he had missed his old crew until now.

"Bbbbllllaaaahhhhhtt."

"Yesssss Gubber, give me a moment, let me get out firsssst, and then you can come out. I have to make sssure Accce issss here."

… and there was the last one. Ace frowned slightly at the unintelligible sound that came from within the train compartment. He would be lying if he had said that he had been hoping that the last member of the crew had somehow miraculously gotten better in his absence – but he knew that it was just foolish thinking on his behalf.

He had seen what had happened to both Gubber and Big Billy, and though he wasn't a doctor by any means – he knew well enough that the damage that both men had suffered was irreversible.

He clenched his fists and bit down on the inside of his cheek as he briefly thought back to the incident that had crippled two of his gang members in more ways than one.

 _Fucking Butch is gonna pay._ Ace seethed, ignoring the person who was squeezing his way out of the compartment doors to stand awkwardly in front of him. _He's going to pay for what he did to Billy and Grubber. Him and his brothers. I's spent the last four fucking years trapped in that hellhole waiting for this moment – ain't nobody going to stop me from getting my revenge-_

"Bossss?"

Ace snapped back to the present, only to see a lanky man, who was even taller than him, with shoulder length back hair, and too long of a neck with too big of a nose, wearing a ratty dress coat, standing in front of him. Ace grinned at the disproportionate man in front of him, and spread his arms out lazily. "Snake Eyes. How'ya been ya lanky fuck?"

Snake sheepishly grinned at the sight of his old gang boss. He hadn't seen the man in close to four years since his imprisonment, but the man hadn't changed much. He still had the same sunken cheeks and the same dark glasses that covered his pink rimmed eyes. All and all, he looked very unwelcoming to the average person – but Snake knew better.

"I've been alright. Thingssss haven't been the ssssame ssssince you got thrown in the sssslammer." He paused before cautiously venturing, "You look good."

"I look like shit." Ace brushed him off with a dismissive wave. "Lemme tell ya, prison food is the nastiest shit on the face of the damn earth. It did nothing for my compaction." He snickered sarcastically, as Snake let out a feeble laugh. Ace narrowed his eyes at the long-necked man, causing him to fall silent immediately.

"So. Why the hell were you at the boys so late?" he asked coolly. "Oh well, you know trainssss bossss: hardly ever on time, that and the ssssecerity at the Countyville train sssstation was hassling the boyssss and I – we almosssst missssed the train."

"Ah good ol' Countyville. Home sweet home am I right? Gotta admit, I've missed the damn place like crazy. It beats this shlump of a place ten-fold. I don't get why the hell they sent me out here to do my time, but I digress." Ace sighed.

"Yeah… thingssss…. Haven't been the sssame without you." Snake admitted as he scratched the back of his head. "We kinda fell apart after you left… I got your letter though, and I went and rounded up the guyssss as quickly asssss I could – thankfully they didn't go far."

"Why am I not surprised." Ace muttered before looking into the train department behind Snake. "Now, where are the others? Where's my greeting?"

"Oh, ah right." Snake muttered as he put his fingers to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. The train car lurched forward slightly as a rounded man, standing on the higher end of six feet, with almost orange colored hair that covered his eyes, pushed his way out of the small doors and lumbered over to where they were standing to lift Ace up off of the ground in a bone-crushing hug. Ace winced as he was squeezed mercilessly – there was a reason why they called him _Big_ Billy after all…

"Daaaaaa Aaaaace! I missed yooou! Where did you goooo?" the lumbering behemoth asked dumbly as he squeezed Ace tighter. "Agh, h-hey Billy, nice to see you too my man- now can yous put me the hell down? I can't breathe-" Ace squeaked out as he felt his spine pop from the force. "Ohhhh sorry!" the huge man rumbled as he all but dropped his former leader back down onto the train platform. Ace snuck a glance over at Snake and jerked his thumb at Billy.

"He never-"

"No." Snake interrupted, shaking his head. "You weren't there when we finally managed to get him and Gubber to a hossspital. The doc ssssaid that he had taken one too many blowsss to the head… by the time we got him there, the damage wassss permeant. He never fully recovered after that."

Ace shook his head. _Christ, he knew the damage that both Big Billy and Grubber had sustained from Butch had been bad, but he had assumed that it would only be temporary – well, at least in Billy's case… Gubber was another story entirely…_

His eyebrows furrowed. That had been close to four years ago now – right before he had gotten locked up. Butch has still been running with them then – which meant the kid had been about sixteen when he had assaulted his gang members. Now what the hell a sixteen-year-old boy was doing unchaperoned in a city that was a good day and a half to get to from Townsville by train in was anyone's guess, but he really couldn't care less.

It was just his luck that he ended up serving time in the dark-haired titan's hometown.

"Ay Billy man! Move your fat ass out of the way so I can get off this creaky old train, capeesh mi amigo?"

Ace had to smile as he peered around Billy's large, round body only to see a short little man with black hair and dark skin, that couldn't have been any more than four feet tall, with a hell of an underbite, getting off of the train, dragging a suitcase that was almost a foot taller than he was behind him.

"Lil' Arturo. Man, is that bite of yours still worse than your bark?" he laughed as he moved over to brush knuckles with the small Latino man. "Eh Boss, you know it is. Look at you jailbird – you finally got out of the slammer."

"Yeah I had some help with that." Ace muttered as he pushed his shades up his nose. Arturo grinned suggestively. "Yeah mi amigo, Snake tracked me down and told me about it. So that fucker bailed you out huh? Why homes?"

"Let's just say that he made me an offer that I couldn't quiet refuse." Ace sighed as he raked a hand though his greasy black hair as he scanned the train compartment. "Now where the hell is Grubb-"

"Bbbbbballllllhhhhttt."

Ace cringed slightly as the odd sound from before rang though the air, before returning his attention back the open compartment door, only to see the final member of the old Ganggreen Gang standing at the open door. Ace forced a smile onto his face as he took in the crippled mess that had once been a man who used to stand tall and proud before him.

Shaggy black hair hung limply in front of his bulging bloodshot eyes. His lower mandible had been forcefully knocked to the left side of his face, distorting it, and allowing his tongue to loll out from between his cracked, dry lips. The few teeth that remained in his mouth were yellow and broken, and his spine was crooked and curved – almost as if it had been broken and not put back into proper alignment – forcing him into a hunched over position, and giving him an almost hunchback-like appearance.

Ace forced himself to hold the weak smile he had on his face as he nodded to the final member of the gang. "Gubber buddy… oh man yous… ah… yous look… swell. Just… swell." He stuttered in his thick Italian-New Yorker accent. He cast a look between the deranged looking man and Billy, who was completely oblivious to the worried look his previous leader was sending him, as the harsh truth hit him full in the face.

Brian damage – the both of them. Not to mention the irreversible physical damage that Grubber had suffered at the hands of… _him._

Ace shook his head as he stared at the shells of two fully grown men who had used to be formidable gang members. They were broken beyond repair… never to be the same… and it was all _HIS FAULT._

How a sixteen-year-old boy had enough power to thrash two fully grown adult men beyond medical help without even breaking a sweat was beyond him, but he had always had a feeling that the green eyed Jojo was always stronger than he had let on…

 _The prick had even had the audacity to_ laugh _as he stood over the broken bodies of his fallen comrades… Like it just a joke to him…_

"Bossss, what are your oderssss?" Snake lisped, snapping him out of his reprieve. "Your messsssage wassss really vage… but I'm going to assssume that there'ssss a reassson that you wanted usss all to come here."

"'Course I do Snake Eye's. did you expect anything less?" Ace chuckled as he glanced at his pocket watch. _Nine o'clock – it was getting a little too late for his liking. He had to hurry up and get them set up in the hotel, and get back to the estate before that thing… whatever it was came out to play._

"You boys might find this interesting, but you remember a certain someone who used to run with us a few years ago?" He watched as his Snake and Arturo looked fearful for the briefest of moments before frowning. Billy swayed in place for a moment before brightening up. "Duuuuu ooooh! You mean Butch right boss?"

"That's the guy." Ace nodded. "Same one who messed up yous and Gubber right proper." Billy nodded slowly before a furious look crossed his face. "I HATE hiiiim." He mumbled as he smacked his fist into his open palm. Ace nodded approvingly. "Good, then yous going to love what I have to tell ya." He grinned savagely. "He lives here and Imma working for him as yous know by now… but…" his grin grew ominously. "I have a plan to get some revenge on him… him and his whole damn family."

"Seriously mi amigo? How?" Arturo asked curiously. "Don't get me twisted homes, I'm all for getting some pay back on that sick fucker. What were you thinking of?"

Ace waved his question away. "I'm explain it in full later, Imma on a bit of a time crunch here so I need to get going back to the estate, but I need to know now: are you guys in or out?"

There was the briefest moment of silence before Snake nodded slowly. "I don't know what you're up to, but I want ssssome payback for what he'sss done to ussss." He hissed venomously.

"Me too homes. I've been waiting for the day to get some vengeance on that boy." Arturo muttered as he flicked open a sharp butterfly knife that he had been concealing in his pocket. "and if we can take it out on the rest of his family then it's all the better homes. We can make them suffer for what he did to Biggy and Grubs." He nodded to Billy and Gubber. "Pretty sure if they could think coherently for more than two minutes, they'd say that they're in too."

Ace nodded as the pair began to snicker. He hadn't been expecting anything less – he knew that the minute that he mentioned getting revenge on the man who had betrayed them, that they would help him with the plan that he was scheming up.

No matter how sick and twisted it was.

Glancing down at his watch again, he coughed, causing Snake and Arturo to fall silent almost immediately. He snapped his fingers at Billy and Gubber, grabbing their attention and making them turn towards him.

"That great boys, now let's blow this place- I've got you all set up in a hotel room for the time being. You guys do _not_ want to be out here during a night like tonight."

"What'sss sssso bad about tonight?" Snake lisped as he picked up his trunk. Ace shot him a withering look as he steered the odd group away from the train platform.

"Let's just say that since I've been here, a lot of weird shit happens during nights when the moon is full. Townsville's got some sort of beastie running around in the woods, and the thing likes to kill people… _a lot."_ He grimaced.

"Ssssounds ssserious." Snake mumbled around his lisp. "How long hasss thisss being going on for?"

"From the sounds of it? a while." Ace informed him. "Shit has really hit the fan recently though. Just last week, a bunch of hunters went into the woods to kill this thing, and they got _destroyed._ Only one made it back alive and that was by sheer dumb luck more than anything else. So I don't want to be out past dark tonight." He muttered, casting a wary glance around the deserted train station.

"You guys got all your shit? Good, I got you boys rooms in the shitty hotel this place has for the next couple of nights – in the meantime, you need to stay out of sight until I give you the go-ahead to proceed with our plan-"

 _Click, click, click._

The sound of a woman's heels echoing off of the train platform made the lanky man pause in the middle of his sentence. He quickly hushed the rest of the gang as he listened intently to where the sound was coming from.

A moment later, a woman appeared from around the train on the other side of the docking platform across from them. She had pale, almost snow like skin with light green eyes the colour of bleached mint. She had short, light blonde hair that looked almost white under the poor lighting the train station provided. Her outfit consisted of a long form-fitting light pink dress with a matching pink hat situated on the side of her head, being held in place by a silken black ribbon that contrasted harshly with her otherwise pale colouring.

All and all, she was hauntingly beautiful.

As soon as the rest of the gang spotted her, the cat calling began, but the woman barely paid them any attention, as she slowly made her way to the exit, located on the end of the train platform. Normally, when seeing a beautiful woman such as the likes of her, Ace would have joined in himself – but there was something holding him back.

Something was… not quite right about the beautiful stranger across from him. Ace squinted at her from over the tops of his sunglasses. She was a looker for sure, but he could tell that something was off about her. The harder he looked at her, the more her features seemed to blur, almost as if she was shrouded in fog…

He shook his head roughly as he re-adjusted his sunglasses on his nose. _Yous just bein' dumb._ He scolded himself. _Yous been locked up in the slammer for far too long – haven't been near a woman in years – yous starting to forget what they look like. Yous just gotta work your charm and the broad will be putty in ya hands. Maybe yous can get lucky and score some tail-_

"Bosssss? You alright?" Snake hissed in his lisp beside him, snapping the gangly man out of his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?" he snapped, harsher then he had indented. Snake flinched slightly before continuing.

"It'ssss jussst that – you'd alwaysss be pulling the movesss on a niccce looking dame like that. You've been oddly sssilent though, I jussst wassss wondering if sssssomthing wasssss wrong." The shorter man stuttered though his lisp. Ace sighed before patting him on the head.

"Yeah, yeah, don't yous worry, I'm fine. I've just been thrown in the damn slammer for so long I've started to forget what woman look like." He grinned crookedly down at Snake. "Waddya say I put on the ol' Ace charm again, eh? Show you losers how it's done. I bet I could convince the broad to give me a kiss – hell I could maybe even get her to give me some tail if I really tried – god knows I need it. Haven't been with a woman since before I got locked up." He muttered sourly.

Snake snickered from beside him. "Go get 'em tiger." He chuckled as he motioned for the others to quiet down, all watching with eager eyes as Ace stepped forward, catching the woman's attention with a shrill whistle. Ace shot the rest of the gang a grin as the woman stopped and turned towards the five men with a cool smile on her face.

"Hey sweetheart, what's a pretty little thing like ya doing out here on a night like this? Donttcha ya know that bad things are going on around here?"

The woman said nothing, instead opting to smile at them knowingly. Ace shot the rest of the gang a bemused smile. "Aw, she's shy, maybe I gotta break the ice a little first." He chuckled before redirecting his attention back to the mysterious woman who was still staring them down, and called out to her again. "Why don't ya come on over here sweetheart, it's dangerous at night-time. Hell, me and the boys will walk ya home. How does that sound sweetness?"

Again, the woman remined silent, but Ace could almost swear that he saw the corners of her lips start to turn upwards into an unfriendly smile. Feeling slightly unnerved, he bent down to Snake' level. "What the hell is up with this broad? Is she a fuckn' mute-" he had only just managed to get out – before a low, throaty chuckle that made the blood rush down to his loins, interrupted him, causing him to forget what he was saying.

He looked back up, only to see the woman chuckling at them. Ace felt his mouth go dry as he watched her. _Goddamn, what was wrong with him? He had been with his fair share of woman before, but none had ever made him have this kind of reaction. Hell, the broad hadn't even said anything to him!_

The white-haired woman cocked a finger at them in a teasing manner, the smile – no _smirk,_ still present on her face.

"Well if you wanted to have some fun all you had to do was ask." The woman laughed airily, and Ace swore that he felt all of his blood go south. He shot the boys a wicked grin as he popped his jacket collar. "What did yous have in mind doll?" he called back across the tracks, over the light snickering coming from the rest of his gang.

The woman only smiled at him and cocked her finger at him, before continuing to walk along the other side of the train platform. Once she reached the exit she turned back around the face the odd-looking gang with a smirk painted on her lips.

"Follow me and find out." She winked, before disappearing though the exit and out of sight, leaving the gang alone on the trains platform. Ace snickered as he took his sunglasses off, revealing his odd pink-tinted eyes. "That little minx… What a woman, eh boys? Goddamn." The quiet muttering and low whistles from the other four members of the gang only confirmed his thoughts.

"Ssssso… what do you want to do Acccce?" Snake hissed nervously glancing at the time on the clock that was mounted on the far wall of the train station.

Ace looked around the deserted train station, before looking at his cronies, then to the exit where the strange woman had disappeared too. Glancing down at his pocket watch, he shrugged his bony shoulders as glanced back up at the exit – weighing his options.

He knew that he shouldn't be out late tonight of all nights – unlike the rest of his gang _he_ knew that _something_ was out there in the woods, and he had no intention of meeting the thing that were behind all of the vicious killings that he had heard about. The night was dangerous now. It was odd thinking that, after all, before he had gotten locked up – he had been the dangerous person everyone was warned about.

 _But still… it had been such a long time since he had been with a woman, and really – the straining in his lower half was becoming far too painful to ignore… Goddamn, that woman had really got him going…_

What that thought still fresh in his mind, he made his decision.

"Fuck it. we're going after her." Ace muttered as he jumped off of the platform they were on, before quickly crossing over to the other side – making a beeline for the exit on the other side. "But what about our stuff boss?" Arturo called out, trying to hull his bag along the ground. "Shut up and bring it with you!" Ace snapped back, just as he reached the exit where the woman had disappeared though.

"I thought you sssaid that you didn't want to be out late tonight?" Snake questioned as he crossed over to the other platform after Ace, only to shrink back slightly as said man glared at him.

"Shut up Snake Eyes, this ain't going to take long. Maybe if you're lucky, she'll let you have some fun with her after I'm done." Ace grinned wickedly at him before peering past him to look at the other member of the gang, who were struggling to move their suitcases along the train's long platform.

"Arturo, Billy, Grubber, move your asses – I've got a little minx waiting for me to show her what a real man can do!" he snapped before walking though the exit after the woman – doing his best to ignore the uneasy feeling that was starting to build in his stomach.

* * *

 **Townsville Abandoned Insane Asylum, Located off of Cedar-shade clearing, an hour outside of Townsville**

Mitch slowed his horse down to a slow walk as he emerged from the wooded path leading up to the Townsville Asylum.

"So if I'm correct it should be just ahead in front of me-" he muttered as he dropped the map he was holding in one hand away from his face, only to gasp in shock.

There, looming out of the shadows cast by the light of the full moon, and surrounded by dead, barren trees, was the abandoned insane asylum.

The asylum was a massive Victorian styled stone building, standing at five stories tall. The establishment was a long rectangular building, stretching out several acres across in both directions, complete with a bell tower situated right in the middle of the building, blocking out the moon, and casting ominous shadows on the snow. Shattered windows decorated the various floors of the building, and broken glass shone ominously in the snow surrounding the asylum. The entire building was dark and silent – indicating to him that it had been without power for several years or more.

He barely remembered the old insane asylum from when he had originally lived in Townsville, but he remembered the shady reputation that the building held. Many unfortunate souls had gone into the building and had never come out – Everyone with half a brain knew that when you got sent to the nut house, you never ended up leaving.

He shuddered as he gently urged his horse up towards the decerped building. He had heard the horrifying rumors of things that had happened at the asylum during its time of operation. The building had seen it all and then some. Everything from the clinically insane, to the mentally deranged, to lobotomies, and straitjackets, and padded cells – this place had had its fair share of tragedies housed within its cold stone walls.

Sometimes he had caught himself wondering as a child if the place itself made its charges insane – not the other way around. Looking at the building now and remembering its troubled past – he wouldn't put it past it.

As he slowly nudged his horse closer towards the front of the building, his eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of a familiar figure with cropped red hair, leaning up against the asylum underneath a broken window.

"Brick? Is that you?" Mitch called out nervously as he slowly dismounted off of his horse, leading the large animal to one of the dead trees that littered the front of the property. The tall man nodded as he nonchalantly pushed off of the wall and made his way over to the hunter. "Evening Mitch. About time you made it over here. I was starting to wonder if you had decided to stay home."

"and miss spending the night with you and your brothers in a hell hole asylum, hunting creatures that have come straight from my nightmares? Not a chance." Mitch assured the muscular ginger, as he adjusted his shotgun's strap around his chest – suddenly feeling grateful that he had the sense to grab it at the last moment – and unloaded his modified rifle from off of his horses back.

"Hey, hey, careful where you point that damn thing." Brick snapped as he backed away, almost growling as he eyed the rifle distastefully. Mitch's eyebrow rose at the sudden change in behavior. "Easy mate, the safety's on right now, once we get in there it won't be." He muttered as he dug around in one of the saddle bags attached to his mount.

With a small grunt, he pulled out a box of silver casings out of the saddle bag and held them out to Brick with the intention of giving it to him. "Here you are – silver bullets just as I promised. It's a shame that Boomer couldn't take them with him when he came to see me. I promised him I would bring them tonight." He muttered as he extended the box out towards Brick.

Brick shook his head, backing away from the small box as if it would burn him. "Why don't you just give them to me once we're inside?" he offered with a strained smile. "I don't exactly have an ammo pouch on me at the moment – I must have forgotten it at home."

"So, you just have your rifle?" Mitch asked baffled. Brick shook his head, letting some of the ginger strands fall in front of his unnatural red eyes. "No I have regular bullets in my pockets, just not the silver ones. I think We'll be alright for the moment. My brothers haven't found the beasts yet."

"Speaking of which, where are your brothers?" Mitch asked peering around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two younger Jojo's. "I thought they would be accompanying you." He added on with a frown as he looked around the front of the building, trying to spot their horses – only to find no trace of the animals anywhere.

"They're already inside." Brick informed him coolly, not taking his searing red eyes off of the cloaked man, watching as his eyes widened in shock.

"What do you mean 'they're already inside'!" he repeated. "It's dangerous! If what you say is true, then it's a good chance that those beasts are somewhere in there and waiting for unassuming victims to walk into their den!"

"They're… fine, just fine. They're already searched the first floor while we were waiting for you and they found nothing. Butch mentioned something about wanting to have a look around in the upper floors, but so far, they haven't found anything yet. If they had, I would have heard then by now." Brick assured him, still not taking his eyes off of him.

"…Alright." Mitch muttered, as he surpassed a shudder as the flame haired male's unnatural red eyes raked over him. "Where are your horses though? I can't see them anywhere."

"We… walked here." Brick muttered lamely as Mitch stared at him. "But why would you do that? This place is almost an hour away from Townsville on horseback." He stated as he raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior Brick was displaying.

"You forget that we live pretty far outside of Townsville." Brick sighed. "It's much closer to our estate then where you live. We took a short-cut to get here – that and we figured we'd have the element of surprise on our side – don't want to tip the beasts off that we're here, you know?"

"I suppose that makes sense." Mitch relented. "Sill though, it's hard to believe that you and your brothers hiked all the way here… it's awfully cold tonight, are you not cold?" he nodded to the light coat that Brick was wearing, as the taller man suppressed a bout of laughter. "No, we come from distinctly European backgrounds – we don't get cold easy. Don't worry about us."

 _You should be worried about yourself._ The crimson eyed man though darkly as he bit back the sudden urge to rip the man's head off.

 _ **DO IT. DO IT NOW. RIP HIS GODDAMN HEAD OFF. SHOW HIM THAT YOU ARE THE ALPHA. YOU AND YOUR PACK ARE NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH!**_

 _Goddamn it not right now – just hold on, just for a bit longer._ Brick thought to himself desperately as he fought against his bestial instincts that were getting harder and harder to ignore with each passing minute. He dug his nails into his palms, wincing as he felt his almost claw-like nails imbed themselves into his skin, drawing blood.

He shuddered violently as the pale light of the moon washed over him, bathing him in its ominous glow. He groaned as he felt his canines sharpen in his mouth, and he sank his teeth into his lower lip as he willed himself to calm down.

 _Just a bit longer, just a bit longer._ He chanted to himself in a mantra. _Just wait until we're in the basement and then I can let go and have my fun – I have to save some of him for Butch and Boomer too…_

"Brick? You alright mate?" Mitch asked, snapping Brick out of his thoughts, as he shot a concerned glance over Brick's way, "You're shaking like a leaf. You're not having second thoughts about going in are you? Because if you are it's alright, you can leave – I'll find Butch and Boomer and send them out with you-"

"No." Brick snapped, eyes flashing as he rounded on the hunter. "I'm fine, just got a bit cold all of the sudden. I'm ready to go in anytime you are, I'm not going to leave my brothers."

"Easy." Mitch muttered as he put his hands up in defense. "Just making sure. You and your brothers got more balls then most of the other men in town; I'll give you three that. You don't have to come in with me, but if you insist then I won't refuse the support." Brick snorted at the brunette's words as he crossed his arms in front of him. "Good luck trying to navigate your way in the asylum without me. The place is a damn maze." He informed him with a huff, before jutting his chin towards the decerped building.

"I'm ready to go in at any time. I've been waiting out here for you – so let's go; I want to catch up to my idiot brothers – god forbid they do something stupid and get themselves killed by those things." Brick grumbled, nodding towards the open doors. Mitch nodded slowly as he looked at the foreboding building with a feeling of dread quickly pooling in his stomach, before looking back in the direction that he had come from. The nervous action did not escape Brick, causing the intimidating flame-haired man to grin demonically.

"Nervous about seeing the beasts again?" Brick ventured, almost teasingly. Mitch shook his head slowly as he looked back towards the open asylum doors.

"It's not the beast's I'm worried about seeing." He muttered blankly as he stared into the inky abys beyond that lay beyond the open doors.

"… It's what I'll see after."

Brick's eyes narrowed, waiting for the hunter to explain himself but Mitch didn't meet his eyes, instead he slowly started to move towards the creaking doors. "Lycan's as you know, are cursed humans for the most part. I'm just not looking forward to when we kill them… because I'm scared that they might be people from town that we know."

"I wouldn't be too worried about that." Brick muttered. "If they cared anything about the town, they would have ended their lives years ago. They're probably too far gone to help."

Mitch shrugged, still not looking at him. "I suppose. It's just been bothering me ever since the Professor and I came to the conclusion."

He stopped just outside of the lightly swinging metal door, and finally turned to face Brick. "Are you ready?" he asked lowly, increasing his grip on his rifle. Brick jutted his chin towards the foreboding darkness ahead of them. "Lead the way."

Mitch let out a quiet sigh in an attempt to calm his beating heart, before flicking the safety off of his rife, and stepped forward into the darkness, letting it swallow him whole. Brick remind outside for a moment longer, watching as Mitch disappeared He had to hand it to him – he had courage… too bad that it wouldn't be enough to save him this time.

He turned his glowing crimson irises up towards the pale full moon in the sky. The luminous disk was taunting him, calling out to him, making his blood sing with the desire to _kill…_ a desire that he would soon staunch.

Casting one last look up at the moon high above him in the pitch-black sky above him, he grinned demonically. _The ritual worked._

 _He could just barley suppress the beast… not forever, but long enough. For now he could hold back the feral beast from destroying everything in its path. However, it needed to be unleashed soon. It was a full moon after all – the beast would have its day. It demanded it._

 _No more Mister Nice Guy._

His eyes flashed to black one last time before he stepped into the foreboding asylum after Mitch, shutting the heavy metal door behind them – and plunging them into darkness.

* * *

 _1815, Jojo Estate, Main house-hold floor_

 _A small girl with sky blue eyes sat on the carpeted floor surrounded by large sheets of drawing paper and different coloured crayons._

 _The tiny girl hummed to herself as she coloured in one of her newest creations, smiling softly to herself as she reached over to grab a deep blue crayon and coloured in the middle half of her picture._

 _There was a small shuffling noise off to her right, but the small blonde didn't bother looking up. She already knew who was approaching her._

" _Bubbles?"_

 _A soft voice asked, breaking the calm tranquility that had settled in the large drawing room she was sitting in. The blue-eyed girl looked up at the intruder and a bright smile broke out across her face. "Boomer there you are! I was wondering when you were going to come find me!"_

 _A five-year-old boy with sandy blonde hair and deep cobalt eyes, that was much bigger than a normal child their age – was standing in front of the sitting girl, staring down at her with interest. "Sorry, I got held up with my brothers, and I couldn't find you anywhere." He muttered as he nodded towards the piece of parchment she was colouring. "What are you drawing now?"_

" _Come sit with me and see!" the small girl beamed, patting the space beside her – the boy did so without hesitation and peered over her shoulder to look at the light-haired girl's latest creation. He remained silent as he took in her drawing, causing the girl's smile to slowly sild off of her face. Usually he always said something about her pictures, whether it was a comment or a critique, it made no difference to her, she appreciated it regardless._

" _What's wrong? Do you not like it?" she asked quietly as she turned her head to the side to look at him with a small frown present on her face._

" _No, no I do!" the blonde-haired boy assured her quickly, "Is… is that supposed to be us?" he asked quietly, a small flush present on his face as he nodded to her picture. The girl's face lit up happily as she nodded._

" _Yup! See that's you and me!" she pointed to two small figures on her sketch paper, one coloured in light baby blue, and the other a dark cobalt blue, holding hands and smiling – a crudely drawn mansion in the background behind them._

" _Why did you decided to draw us?" he asked as he gently leaned into her side. Bubbles shrugged. "Ms. Keane my kindergarten teacher said that she wanted us to draw what we saw in our futures – and I saw you and me! We're always together after all, so why would that change in the future?" she told him brightly as she took his larger hand in her delicate one. "So, do you like it?"_

" _Yes, absolutely." Boomer muttered as he glanced at her drawing again, before looking down at their intertwined hands. "I'm… I guess I'm just surprised that you want me in your life that much." He admitted sheepishly. "Of course I want you in my life!" Bubbles replied, nudging him, "I don't know what I'd do without you!" she told him as she returned to colouring her drawing. the dark eyed boy didn't say anything after that, instead opting to watch her draw for a while._

 _A comfortable silence fell over the pair of blondes, interrupted only by the quiet scratching sounds of crayons on paper as Bubbles continued to work on her picture. After a few more minutes, she put her crayons down and shifted to look at Boomer, who also moved slightly so he was looking directly at her. She had a question on her mind, one she had been meaning to ask him for a while – but could never find the right opportunity to ask. But now seemed like the ideal time to ask the boy the question that had constantly been on her mind._

" _Boomer… will you stay with me?" Bubbles asked quietly. The boy raised an eyebrow. "I'm with you right now." He stated, confused by her question. She shook her head with the tiniest of smiles on her face. "No, I mean, will you stay with me_ forever?" _she clarified softly, peeking up at him from under her eyelashes._

 _The tall boy was silent for the briefest of moments as he processed her request before gently squeezing her hand, making her look up at him._

" _Yes… if you want me to, then I will." He assured her softly. The girl nodded. "That's what I want." She stated firmly. Boomer nodded slowly._

" _Then I'll stay with you… always… forever if you want."_

" _Forever." Bubbles said as she leaned back against him. "I just don't want to be alone. Never leave me alone Boomer… please."_

 _The boy was quiet again for another moment before pulling her into a tight side hug, causing her to stiffen in surprise but relax almost immediately in his hold as she snuggled up into his side._

 _She had always felt safe around him… he was always there…. watching her… protecting her… always there to chase away the nightmares that plagued her sometimes and reassure her that they couldn't hurt her. There was just something so natural about everything that he did, she couldn't quite say what it was, but she didn't care, he always made her so happy. This was no exception._

" _I'll always be with you. Always. Forever." Boomer promised softly as he buried his nose in her soft blonde hair. "I promise, you'll never be alone. I'll be with you until the day you die. I promise."_

 _Bubbles smiled softly as she snuggled up into him. "Thank you Boomer." She whispered. "You're a good friend." Boomer smiled gently at her. "Always." He murmured as he gently ran a hand through her light blonde hair._

" _Always…"_

" _Forever..."_

"… _Forever…"_

"… _You'll never be alone..."_

"…I promise…."

Bubbles jolted upright from her spot on the couch as wiped the small about of sleep that had gathered in her pale blue eyes, before looking around the living room frantically.

She had been lulled off to sleep earlier by Blossom playing with her hair, only to be awoken from her dream suddenly by a feeling of intense dread. Blossom directed her attention to her blonde sister from the book she was reading from her spot beside her on the sofa in concern. "Bubbles? Is everything alright?"

"No… I… I don't know." The blonde girl admitted softy as she slowly sat up, before looking over to the large grandfather clock over in the corner of the living room.

 _12:47_

She shuddered and met Blossom's candy colored eyes. "I just… have a really bad feeling about tonight." She admitted softy as her hand absentmindedly went up to trace her healed bicep. Blossom glanced outside one of the large living room windows out into the dark forest beyond as she closed her book and set it aside.

"Well, at least Buttercup was right – we haven't changed into… Lycan's at least." She attempted weakly at levity. "I suppose." Bubbles sighed "That's one thing to be happy about… but truthfully, I'm not even worried about that. There's something else that's bothering me about tonight… I just can't quite put my finger on it."

"Try and describe it." Blossom offered as she turned her body towards her sisters. "Maybe talking will help you figure out what it is."

Bubbles thought about it for a moment as she massaged her bicep before quietly muttering. "I don't really know how to describe it to be honest. I just started feeling it now. It just crept up on me all of the sudden… like a warning."

"A warning? Blossom echoed. "What do you mean a warning? Warning you of what?"

"That's the thing, I don't know." Bubbles sighed. "I can't tell what's this feeling is trying to tell me, or what it's trying to warn me about. But I find it odd that it happens tonight of all nights. Don't you?"

"Yes…" Blossom admitted quietly. "Do you think it has something to do with when we were bitten by those… things?" she asked. Bubbles stiffed suddenly as a sudden jolt of pain danced across her arm.

"Ouch." she mumbled as she glanced fearfully down at her arm in shock. Blossom tilted her head. "What's wrong?" she asked. "My arm… it just started to flare up again." Bubbles croaked. "I don't understand… it's complete healed over, it hasn't given me any problems from when it first got bit…" she looked up. "Is your shoulder giving you any problems?"

"I… no." Blossom admitted. "Maybe you're just sensitive?" she asked timidly. "Sensitive to what though?" Bubbles asked, shaking her head. "Where's Buttercup? Maybe she'll know – she's been reading old fairy tales non-stop since papa told us of the beasts… maybe she's found something that can explain it?"

"She's outside… I heard her go out into the back yard not long after you went to sleep… come to think of it, she's been out there for a while, and I didn't see her come back in… I think we should go check on her… just make sure she's alright." Blossom muttered as she stiffly stood up and moved towards the double doors leading out into the back yard, Bubbles right behind her.

Unlatching the door, the pale red head swung open the door and stepped out into the moonlit garden. "Buttercup?" she called softly. "Buttercup, are you still back here? Butter-" she stopped as she caught sight of her raven haired sister standing by the black gated fence that encircled their property, separating them from the dark forest beyond.

Her white nightgown billowed out behind her like a ghost as Blossom and Bubbles approached her. "Buttercup… are you alright?" Bubbles asked gently, as the lime eyed girl slowly turned to face them. "Hrm? Oh, I'm fine girls… just… fine." She mumbled absentmindedly as she redirected her attention back to the words.

"Buttercup, what's going on? Do you see something?" Blossom asked quietly as she peered into the thick mass of trees. "No. and that's what's bothering me." Buttercup mumbled softly. "It's quiet… too quiet… I don't know what those things are doing… but the forest has been absolutely dead tonight."

"Isn't that a good thing? Maybe there won't be any more attacks tonight." Bubbles whispered hopefully. Buttercup shook her head. "Maybe… but I've got a bad feeling." She admitted.

"I don't know where they are… but they're out there somewhere… doing god knows what…" she breathed. Her bright green eyes almost seemed to glow as she glanced at her sisters. "Was there something that you two needed?" Blossom nodded. "You've been reading everything you can about the Lycan's a fair amount recently… have you discovered anything about the bites?"

Buttercup frowned, "It depends… what do you want to know?"

"Bubbles woke up just a few moments ago and her bite was paining her… we just thought it was odd that it would start to act up tonight of all nights." Blossom admitted. "and since you've been reading so much on them, we were wondering if you found anything that could explain it."

Buttercup was silent as she pondered her older sisters question. Finally, she sighed and took her sisters hands, leading them back into the safety of the manor.

"What I've read about them are just from old story books that Townsville has to offer… there isn't very much information about them – after all, they're stories so I can't say if any of it is real or not – that and there aren't very many stories about werewolves to begin with – but what I can say is this: the effects of the bites vary depending on the version of the story." She began. "In most versions of – a bite means you get turned into a werewolf yourself, but clearly that hasn't happened to either of you yet, so I think we're in the clear on that aspect."

She pushed open the double doors and waited for her sisters to enter before she softy shut the door behind them. Ushering them back to the living room sofas, she took a seat on the one facing across from them. "The books are very vague when it comes to describing the condition and the effects of the bites, but there was something that I read in one of the older books that… well, I think that it might apply to you two – but you're not going to like what I have to say."

"What is it?" Bubbles asked fearfully as she griped her lightly throbbing bicep. "Is it something bad? Should we be worried?"

"Ah… it's something." Buttercup winced. "I don't think you have to be afraid for your life or anything like that – but… it's something that you should be concerned about." She laced her hands in her lap as she bit her lip nervously. "the second thing that it might be is that you've-" she trailed off uncertainly.

She dropped her eyes to her lap and stared at her hands. The obsidian haired girl was quiet for a while before she spoke in a voice softer than a whisper. She was so quiet that both Blossom and Bubbles had to lean in to hear what she was saying.

"… You've been marked."

Both girls froze and a pregnant silence filled the room, as the implication of Buttercup words washed over them.

"What… what does that mean?" Bubbles asked stiffly, her wild blue eyes betraying her panic. Blossom was strangely silent, but nodded her head, singling for Buttercup to continue.

"Well… marking is… interesting. I only saw it one particular version. It didn't say much about what exactly it was but the text did day this:" Buttercup reiterated.

" _When the wolf has met his match, a bite he will bestow,_

 _A mark that joins him and his intended together_

 _Far beyond this life and the world below._

 _It binds her as his, forever and always_

 _As the one who is most loved and trusted._

 _And the beast will remain by the side_

 _of the one he has chosen for a bride"_

Another long silence fell over the three girls, only to be broken by Bubbles. "C-come again?" she choked out. "Binding? Bride? T-there has to be some mistake, I can't be with a… a Lycan! We're not even the same species for god's sake!"

"Ah but remember, Lycan's are really just cursed humans." Buttercup reminded her baby sister ominously. "That means there's _somebody_ who wants you and Bloss-"

But Blossom wasn't listening to what they were saying anymore – she was too consumed by her own thoughts regarding what Buttercup had just told her and Bubbles.

 _Marked._ She shuddered at the term Buttercup had used. She couldn't have been… she and Bubbles… they couldn't have been marked by some accursed creature… could they've been?

 _ **MINE.**_

The ungodly snarl that Blossom had heard in her head the night the beast had attacked her echoed in her skull, and the auburn-haired woman felt her heart begin to race with panic.

 _The beast had somehow projected that word into her mind – that she was almost certain of. She hadn't understood how or why for that matter, but she didn't need to anymore… she felt as if the answer was staring her in the face._

 _And she didn't know how exactly to feel about it._

"So… are you implying that these things are going to come back for us?" Bubbles near shrieked, only to be silenced by her sisters, who pointed up to the ceiling – indicating that their parents were still asleep.

The girls were silent for a few tense moments, as they listened intently for any noise to indicate that one or both of their parents had heard the noise, and were getting up to investigate. "I don't know." Buttercup admitted, once it became clear that no one from upstairs had heard anything.

"Did the text say anything else about this mark?" Blossom asked Buttercup quietly, hoping for some more information. To her dismay, Buttercup shook her head – her long dark hair gently cascading down the sides of her face with the action.

"I grabbed all of this information from story books, so again I don't know how accurate it is. We literally have no books on the subject." Buttercup shrugged helplessly. "That's all I know. And I'm not going to bother dad anymore on the subject. Something tells me that if he knew that I was looking into this he would get rid of all of the books."

"I don't like going behind papa's back, but I still feel like he's hiding things from us." Blossom agreed with a small frown. "If we want answers, it looks as if we'll have to get them ourselves. No one seems very keen on telling us anything – though I can't say that I blame them." She added as an afterthought.

"Do you suppose someone knows other variations of the werewolf stories?" Bubbles asked suddenly? "One's that aren't in books? Maybe they could help us figure out what this 'marking' idea really is."

"She brings up a good point." Buttercup muttered. "I remember we used to get told old stories of Townsville legends before bed when we still lived here. I could bet you any amount of money that at least one of them was about werewolves."

"Didn't nanny used to tell us those stories? I could have sworn that she did." Bubbles muttered, scrunching up her nose in thought. "Yes, but that won't help us, she's not here. She went back home for Christmas and she's not due back until sometime in the next few weeks." Blossom corrected her. "Personally, I would like some answers _now._ If what Buttercup thinks has happened to us is indeed correct – then you and I could be in some serious trouble if those –" she shuddered as the visual of the wolf came back to her- " _things_ , decide to come looking for us."

"Again, I'm just going off of what I've managed to discover in the books." Buttercup cut in. "You have to admit though: parts of it _do_ make sense… There's no denying that the pair of you got bit by those things – but the bite didn't turn either of you into a Lycan… so…" the dark-haired girl sighed irritably as she rubbed her eyes with one hand.

"I don't know anymore." She admitted with a small laugh. "I'm really at a loss. It seems like every time something starts to make sense, something else pops up and complicates things farther... always keeping us one step behind." She laughed bitterly as she stood from her spot on the sofa and turned away from them. "You were right Blossom: nothing's really clear anymore."

The lime eyed woman lapsed into silence as she thought about their current situation. "Nothing's certain anymore." She repeated to herself quietly without looking at either of her sisters. "This whole thing… it's been wrong from the start, but there's… I don't know. There's something sinister about all of this."

"But one thing is for certain though." Buttercup murmured as she slowly turned to face them, allowing both her sister to see the dark purple bags that were forming under her eyes.

"You both have been marked."

* * *

 **Townsville Insane Asylum**

"Good god, it's dark as hell in here."

Mitch grumbled as he tightened his grip on his rifle. Brick snorted next to him, though the sound was far from pleasant. "I did warn you it was going to be dark." He reminded him, their voices echoing off of the tiled walls.

"Yes well, limited visibility already puts us at a disadvantage." Mitch muttered as he felt along the tiled wall. "It almost makes me glad that I brought both my hunting rifle _and_ my shotgun – just as a precaution." He patted the strap that ran diagonally along his chest, keeping the shotgun tethered to his backside.

"Well that's good…" Brick muttered darkly, eyeing the deadly piece of weaponry strapped across the hunter's back. "Glad to see someone thought ahead."

 _Not that it'll help you much._ The alpha male thought darkly to himself with a cruel sneer.

"I suppose." Mitch shrugged. "But these things aren't normal creatures… regular buckshot doesn't do a damn thing against them – trust me, I know." He nodded potently. "Shot guns are basically useless against them… it's the silver that does the trick." He chuckled as he patted his ammo pouch. "If I could fire off a round from the shotgun and manage to hit one of those things, I'm pretty sure I could kill it… After all, shotgun blasts are able to blow holes in things on a good day-"

"Right, as much as I would _love_ for you to continue your little werewolf hunting theories, I'm going to ask that you keep it down. I still have to find Butch and Boomer and I don't know where those things are at the moment." Brick interrupted with a slight growl in his tone. Mitch's eyes widened in surprise, before they narrowed and he nodded again. "Right, of course, sorry about that mate, you're absolutely right – lead the way."

Brick huffed and took the lead, guesting for Mitch to fallow him. The taller man lead the way though several dark corridors before they came to a half in front of a set of open double doors. Brick held up a finger as he listened for any signs of movement in the room ahead of them, before signaling to Mitch that it was clear. Both men moved into the open area that the doors led into. Mitch's eyes widened in amazement as he took in the room they were standing in.

It was a large, tiled circular room, with a desk pushed off to the side along the back-right wall. Three large windows with the glass smashed out of its panes provided the only light source in the otherwise dark room. The beams of moonlight the windows let though cut through the impeaching darkness, allowing Mitch to see that the room had been almost completely gutted and destroyed. Loose bits of paper littered the floor, while some were tossed about gently by the cold winter air that the broken windows let in. Mitch glanced around the room wearily, searching for any signs of movement, but relaxed after a moment when it became apparent that the creatures they were hunting were not in the room with them.

"What… exactly happened here?" Mitch muttered as he bent down to look at some of the lose papers that littered the floor. Brick shrugged. "No one really knows the exact reason. I know that they went bankrupt which was the main reason why they closed among other things. But there's always been some speculation that other things were going on in here that made it shut its doors indefinitely."

"Things like what?" Mitch whispered as he picked a piece of paper up off of the floor. Tuning it over, he noticed that it was part of a patient's file. Holding the document up to the small amount of moonlight that was streaming though the broken windows, he slowly began to read what was written on the paper.

 _Patient Name: Mike E. Believe_

 _Birthdate: March 17, 1810_

 _Parents (If applicable): Janey Believe (Mother) Unknown Father_

 _Age: 15_

 _Height: 5'7_

 _Weight: 125 lbs_

 _Diagnosis: Paranoid Schizophrenic – suffers from vivid hallucinations of a man named 'Patches'_

 _Mental Health: Insane_

 _Treatment Plan: Hydrotherapy, Anti-psychotics, Anti-depressants_

 _Threat Level: High-risk_

 _Additional Notes: Must be kept in straightjackets 24/7. Is to be monitored 24/7_

"Jesus Christ, this place is a goddamn horror show." Mitch muttered, repulsed by the information that he had read. He placed the document back down on the floor where he had gotten it from and stood up slowly. "Kid was no older then us when he got locked up… God I don't even want to think about what they put the poor kid though."

"Like I said: other things happened in here that we still don't know about." Brick's voice echoed from across the room. "The place closed down for a multitude of reasons. It can stay closed for all I care."

"Yeah… No kidding." Mitch sighed as he took one last look around the room. "I don't think your brothers or those things are in here. Shall we proceed?"

"Lets." Brick muttered as he slowly moved over to the far side of the room where another set of doors were ajar. Peering down the dark hallway that lay beyond it, he jerked his head in its direction. "This way. It leads father in."

"Where exactly are we going?" Mitch asked as he made his way over to Brick, clutching his hunting rifle tightly. "I have a feeling that the father in we go, the closer we're going to get to the wolves." Brick responded airily as he disappeared into the shadows of the hallway. "and I have a pretty good feeling that's where my brothers are going to be as well." Mitch peered into the darkness after the well-built man where he had vanished out of sight – only for Brick's piercing red eyes to pop up in front of him a few feet away.

"Are you coming?"

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Mitch fired back as he took a cautious step towards the glowing red eyes. "Because it seems like this place is getting darker the farther in we go."

"That's just because there isn't as many windows the further in you go." Brick assured him. There was a slight shuffling sound, that Mitch could only assume was from him turning back around, as his eyes suddenly disappeared from view. "Just keep walking forward, there's nothing in front of you."

"You sound like you know the place well." The brunette muttered as he slowly made his way forward, following blindly after Brick's voice. "Like I said: my brothers and I used to sneak in here a lot as children. We know this place quite well."

"Why in god's name would you want to play in here?" Mitch muttered, swearing under his breath as he slammed his toe into the floor. "Why not?" Brick responded carelessly. "There's another room just up ahead, watch yourself." Mitch gazed down the long dark stretch of corridor, only to see a small sliver of light illuminating the area before them.

Mitch squinted as he caught sight of Brick's silhouette materialize in front of him. The burly red eyed man beckoned the weary hunter over. "Just up here is the lounge area – it connects all the other wings together, and you can get into other floors from this point – including the basement." He informed him in a low rumble. Mitch nodded, even though he was sure that Brick couldn't see him. "Right, where do you think your brothers went to?" He whispered as he slowly approached the small glimpse of moonlight. "Once we're in there I should be able to guess where they took off too." Brick muttered back. "and the wolves as well."

Mitch gripped his hunting rifle with a tense nod and slowly entered the poorly lit room. Much like the first room, it was circular and covered in grimy white tile that was cracked and dirty from years of misuse. A single large window on the left side of room did very little to brighten up the dark room.

"Shit it's dark in here." Mitch sighed as he stepped into the room. "I can barely see anything… that window isn't doing much at all." He squinted into the darker corners of the room. "You said that you're able to get into other wings from here?"

"Yes, the doors leading into the other wings are on the right side of the room." Brick said quietly from somewhere off to his right. "You can access the upper and lower levels from here too…"

"Excellent." Mitch sighed. "Stay close and keep an eye out – the wolves might be close by… hopefully your brothers will make an appearance soon."

"Oh, don't you worry Mitch. I have a feeling that they'll turn up _very_ soon." Brick replied evenly as he turned his face away from Mitch – doing his best to hide the sharp-toothed grin that was slowly spreading across his face.

Mitch on the other hand was too busy slowly exploring the open room to notice the sudden change in his behavior. Instead, he was more interested in a dark shape sitting on a self a few feet off the ground. Moving over to it, he slowly picked up the object, only to discover that it was an old lantern much to his delight.

Leaning his rifle up against the dirty white tiled wall, he turned the small dial on the base of the lantern, only for a small flame to pop to life in murky glass it was concealed in. He turned around to face Brick as he picked up his rifle from up against the wall. "Look what I found!" he grinned. "This'll help brighten up the place a bit!"

"Slightly." Brick's faint voice came from across the room, next to a set of doors that seemed to lead out into another wing. "It's not very bright, and doesn't look like it has much fuel left in it. I'd use it sparingly if I were you."

Mitch ignored the tense tone that the other man's voice had taken on, as he lifted the lantern up higher in his free hand. He frowned as he looked around the room, noting that Brick was indeed right, and that the weak flame didn't do much to brighten up his surroundings – only lighting the space that was immediately in front of him. "Well, limited visibility is better then what we had before." The brunette pointed out dryly, only for Brick to remain silent. Mitch shrugged, figuring that it was best not to try and push conversation on the stoic ginger, and instead focused his attention on exploring the room with his new light source – looking for possible clues on were the Lycan's could be hiding in the building.

He continued to look around the large, tiled room in mortified fascination – only to notice a long dark red and brow splatter trailing down the white tiled wall next to him.

"Is that blood?" Mitch whispered as he moved closer to the dried brown splatter on the wall. He ran a hand down the mess, before lifting it to his nose and inhaling deeply. His face wrinkled in disgust as he whipped his hand off on his trousers. Just as he had suspected, it was indeed dried blood.

He looked closer at the splatter, allowing his heighted instincts to paint a mental picture in his head. The blood was old enough that it had turned brown and hardened slightly but new enough that it still came off with only a small amount of effort – leading him to believe that the blood was fresh… only a few hours old at most.

He immediately cocked the rifle and shifted on the balls of his feet, so he was glancing all around him, only to see more splashes of blood staining the white tiled walls, and more frightenedly – he saw a drying blood trail painting the floor in front of him in varying shades of red and brown. He followed the trail with his eyes, only to see it lead though a set of broken double doors and disappear into the darkness beyond.

A semi-fresh blood trail that size was a warning sign to him, as it meant two things. the first being that whatever had done it was probably still in the area nearby, and secondly: that whatever had done it was _big._ But he already knew that much.

What or _who_ the blood splatter came from, he couldn't say – though he had some ideas…

"Brick." He muttered as he slowly backed up to where the crimson eyed man was. "Safety off mate, those things are around here somewhere, brace yourself- Brick?"

The hunter whirled around, looking frantically in all directions for the muscular red clad man, only to see that he was no longer in the room with him.

"Brick." Mitch hissed. "Brick! Where are you? Where in god's name did you go?"

Silence answered him.

Brick was gone.

"Shit, Brick?" Mitch hissed, not daring to raise his voice any higher. Looking through the rifles scope lenses he looked around the room for the missing ginger, only to see that he had disappeared without a single trace.

"What the hell?" Mitch muttered as he backed up slowly. "I only turned my back on him for a second! Where the hell could he have gone-"

 _Squish._

Mitch frowned as he stepped in something wet. He hadn't remembered seeing any leaks in the ceiling or the walls when he had first looked around the room. He glanced down only notice that he was standing in a dark black pool. He squinted down at it, trying to determine what it was in the low lighting that the lantern provided, only to freeze in horror upon realizing what he was stepping in.

He was standing in a large pool of blood.

The tall brunette leaped out of the pool and skidded across the white tiled floor, leaving smeary red streaks behind him as he cocked his gun. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the dimly lit environment, he began to notice more and more dark pools of what he could only assume was blood, scattered around the large room.

Side stepping around the larger ones, he held the lantern up higher as he tried to determine where the blood trail started and where it ended. After circling the blood splatters, he came to the conclusion that the wolves must have chased something into the room and attacked it, causing the wounded creature to try to flee – sending blood spatter everywhere in an attempt to get away.

"This must have been recent." Mitch growled as he moved around the room, holding the dim lantern up to increase his visibility. "The blood isn't that old, which means that those things are still around here somewhere. The question is: where did they go-"

He cut himself off as he approached the back-right corner of the room and spotted a set of open doors that he had not seen previously. A long, slick blood-trail leading past the doors caught his attention, and he slowly moved over to investigate. Keeping his rifle pointed in front of him, he held the lantern into the darkness, and noticed a set of stairs leading down into the dark abyss. He shuddered as an ominous feeling swept over him. Somehow, he had a feeling he knew exactly where it led.

Backing out of the darkness, he glanced at a worn-out sign handing by the door. Lifting his lantern, he was barely able to make out the letters on the old sign.

 _Basement_

He cringed. Of course the blood trail had to lead into the basement, of course it did. The one place he didn't want to end up in, it looked like he had to go.

"Well, Brick did say that this room led to other wings and that you could enter the basement from here… wherever he went…" Mitch grumbled as he cast a final look around the room, in hopes that Brick would appear. He glanced back down into the dark abyss that looked ready to sallow him whole, before hoisting his rife up and held the lantern higher.

"Hopefully he turns up soon. I'm going to check out the basement. It's time to finish this once and for all."

And with that, he walked into the darkness and down the steps without another word – his footsteps echoing in the dark stairwell, and the light from his lantern disappearing into the shadows below.

After the dim light that the lantern let off wasn't visible from the stairwell anymore, a set of red eyes materialized from the dark shadows of the lounge room, and made their way over to the open basement doors. A set of razor sharp teeth gleamed sinisterly in the small amount of moonlight that was in the room.

"Yes… it's time to end this… once and for all…"

* * *

Mitch slowly descended the last step and quietly made his was forward into the gloomy basement, keeping his finger on his rifles trigger – ready to shoot at anything that moved from the darkness.

He lowered his lantern to the floor to see if there were any more blood trails for him to follow. Sure enough, the slick red trails littered the grimy tiled floor in front of him – this one looking fresher then the splatter upstairs.

He cringed as he straightened back up. _They were down here. He wasn't sure in all three of them were in the same location together or if only one was lurking in the basement but it didn't matter. Regardless on whether it was one or three, he was going to kill them. He wasn't about to let the creatures leave the Asylum alive._

Moving forward slowly, he flinched as his footsteps echoed off of the stone walls around him, creating an echo-chamber effect. The dim light emanating from the lantern did little to light up the dank basement as he moved deeper and deeper in. Finally, after a few minutes of shuffling around in the dark, he came upon another set of doors that looked as if they had been busted open by force. Lowering his light source down to the floor, he confirmed that the blood trail he was following did lead into the area beyond the open doors.

Glancing up at the faded sign by the door, Mitch couldn't help but let a cold dread wash over him as he read where the area beyond lead into.

 _Solitary Confinement chambers/Holding Cells_

 _Morgue_

 _Crematorium_

"Well, well, this just keeps getting better and better every minute." Mitch muttered sarcastically under his breath as he moved past the doors, only to find himself standing in a large, rectangular room, with half-moon windows lining the tops of the walls, allowing a small amount of moonlight to stream in from the outside world – lighting up the space and allowing him to see the cell-like doors that lined the walls on either side of the room underneath the half-moon windows.

"This must have been where they kept the high-risk patients." Mitch murmured softly as his mind wandered back to the boy he had read about earlier, and he briefly wondered if the boy had ever been locked away in the cells that he was seeing.

 _He didn't want to know the answer._

He moved silently into the cell area, listening intently for any signs of movement around him. Only once he was satisfied that there was no one else in the room with him, did he muster the courage to walk slowly over to the closest cell door. He slowly pushed back the metal feeding slot on the door – half expecting to come face to face with one of the nightmarish beasts he was tasked with hunting – only to find that the grimy room was empty, and looked as if it had been for some time.

A foul smell hit him in the face suddenly – assaulting his sense of smell, and caused him to cough violently as his eyes watered from the stench that was emanating from the room. Shutting the feeding slot tightly, Mitch stepped away from the holding cell, waving a hand in front of his face, as he tried desperately to relive himself of the horrid smell.

His face wrinkled in disgust as he tried to determine what exactly the smell was. It smelled like a rancid mix of urine and the stench of decay – almost as if something inside the cell was rotting away. The thought almost made him lose what little dinner his grandmother had forced down his throat at the grisly thought. He shook his head as he tried to clear his mind of what it could possibly be.

Cocking his rifle back, he moved away from the other holding cells and back to the fresh blood trail he was following. The trail lead him to the opposite end of the room, where the weak moonlight steaming in from the windows above illuminated another set of doors on the far end. As he approached, he noticed a sign by the door, much like the last one, and paused to read it.

 _Morgue down the hall_

A faded arrow to his left pointed in the direction of the morgue, and Mitch bit back a groan. _It was the place in the basement that he handed cleared, and if he could guess: it was where the blood trail was taking him._

As he passed thought the doors, he was surprised to see that the blood trail didn't turn left as he thought it would, but instead banked right – leading away from it. Mitch frowned as the blood trail turned right at the doors. He wasn't sure what the right side of the hallway led to, but for all he knew it was some sort of trap that he was being baited into.

He placed the lantern down for a moment as he cracked open the bullet chamber on his rifle, only to see two silver bullets gleaming in their chambers, ready to be used. He grunted in satisfaction and cracked the chamber shut again, before feeling down to his belt where his ammo bag rested on his hip. He jingled the bullets lightly, testing the weight of the bag before nodding in satisfaction – knowing that he had more than enough silver to kill a werewolf.

He glanced back over his shoulder to see his shotgun still resting along his backside, and breathed a sigh of relief. If this went south – and he had a feeling that it would – he knew he would be relying on the shotguns power to blow back any attackers.

He muttered a quick prayer under his breath as he picked up his lantern again. "God be watching over me. Give me the strength to smite the beasts that I've come for." He muttered lowly as he turned right, and contained to fallow the trail into the damp darkness of the basement, noting that there were no windows down the right-hand side of the corridor to light the way unlike the solitary confinement chamber.

Mitch moved slowly into the darkness, keeping a close eye on the blood trail he was following. Based on what he would make out from the dim lantern's lighting, he could see that the blood on the floor was becoming fresher and tuning a dark maroon colour the farther he walked. He swallowed lightly – he was getting closer to whatever the creatures had hunted, meaning that he was getting closer to the beasts themselves.

He paused suddenly as a small sound reached his oversensitive ears. He fell silent and listened intently to what the sound was. After a tense moment, he heard it again.

 _Squish_

 _Slurp_

 _Riiip_

Mitch tensed and held his rifle up, checking to make sure that he had the safety off. The sounds were coming from just up ahead of him. Bracing himself for a fight, Mitch gripped his rifle tightly and inched his way towards the wet sounds that were emanating from the dark corridor ahead. Slowly but surely, he moved down the dark hallway, flinching as with disturbing ripping sounds grew louder and louder, until he came across the head of a dead stag.

Mitch fought the urge to gag at the sight of the dead creature and noted that it was surrounded in a pool of its own blood.

"Well, that must be what those things killed and dragged down here, but where the hell are they-"

 _Squish_

 _Riiiiip_

Mitch froze mid-sentence as he felt his blood turn to ice as the wet tearing sound from before came from directly in front of him. Lifting the lantern up, he was treated to a grisly slight. He saw the rest of the stag's mangled body lying twisted and mangled on the cement floor, looking as if the the intestines had been completely removed and gutted from the animal's stomach.

But the most terrifying thing about the whole scene in front of him, had to be the two figures that were couched over the bloodied body – tearing out the animal's internal organs with brutal force, creating the sickening wet squelches he had been hearing. The two figures bit into them hungrily, causing drops of blood to spray everywhere and drip down their chins like a fountain of red.

Mitch lifted the rifle and pointed it at the two seemingly human figures, staring down at them from the rifles scope lenses, unsure of what to do. The two figures continued gorging on the intestines of the animal, completely oblivious to the disgusted hunter standing a foot away from them. Mitch squinted at the two figures, as he tried to figure out who they were without getting to close.

He caught a flash of dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes that seemed to glow in the lanterns low lighting, and a mess of jet black spikes from the man that was closest to him. Mitch almost lost his hold on his rifle as he quickly realized who he was looking at.

"Butch, Boomer, are you two out of your fucking minds?! IT'S _RAW_!" Mitch bellowed as he surged forward. He shown the light directly into the faces of the two younger Jojo's in an effort to catch their attention, and get them to stop tearing open the stag.

The light hit Butch right in the face, causing him to snarl irritably, as he finally tore his attention away from the stag's innards, and glared at Mitch though hazy eyes. Mitch felt himself go weak in the knees as Butch's hazy forest iris's locked onto him, and dread washed over his being as he took in the appearance of the middle Jojo.

The massive man was near bare, his shirt was completely gone, exposing a broad and well defined chest, with only a few shreds of cloth covering his modesty, preventing him from being completely naked. His obsidian spikes were tossed wildly about, and his eyes were black pools of death as a feral snarl left his throat, allowing Mitch to catch a glimpse of red stained teeth that lay past his bloodied lips. Fresh red blood dripped down from his chin and ran down his stomach, as the titan of a man slowly stood up and away from his meal, and took an aggressive step towards Mitch, a low growl rumbled threateningly in the back of his throat.

A quick look directed at Boomer showed him the same scene. The blonde turned his head in Mitch's direction with a low growl and slowly stood alongside Butch, blood pooling off of the youngest Jojo's chin sinisterly as he slowly began to advance upon the startled hunter.

"H-hey, both of you – what the hell is going on? Have the two of you lost your goddamn minds?! What in the hell are you doing mauling a deer-" Mitch began to weakly get out, before a powerful spasm rippled through Butch's body, causing him to fall silent.

Mitch watch in horror as Butch began to grow even taller before his very eyes as he slowly advanced on him. His knees popped forwards out of their original alignment, as his tibia and fibula cracked halfway down, pushing his powerful legs into a slightly hunched position. His heels lifted up off the ground, as his big toe shifted farther up his leg much like a dog's. Massive black claws pushed themselves out of his nail beds, and scraped along the ground as more black hair pushed itself out of his skin. His arms slowly began to elongate and grow more muscular as dark black hair began to push itself up from his pores, and much like his toenails – his fingernails became sharp black talons, capable of slicing though skin like butter. His diaphragm cracked loudly and his lungs and ribs became broader and stronger as they became broader as they struggled to keep up with the rest of the man's quickly growing frame. But despite everything he was witnessing, Mitch could honestly say that the most horrifying change that the man in front of him was going though had to be his face.

Mitch could only watch in terrified fascination as Butch's jaws elongated and grew outward as his nose morphed to keep up with the awkward shift. Long, sharp teeth forced themselves out of his gums and filled his jaws, glinting sinisterly in the low lighting coming from the lantern. His cranial plates shifted and morphed as his skull became more canine-like. Finally, large, pointed ears grew out near the top of his head, as midnight black fur completely overcame his features – stripping him of any human features.

What was once a man now stood a terrifying beast that stood close to eight feet in height. It's- no… _His –_ Mitch corrected himself – livid green eyes were mere slits as he bared his teeth in a menacing snarl at Mitch's stunned figure.

Ragged breathing from behind the transformed Butch caught Mitch's attention, and he shifted his gaze back to Boomer, who's bones he could see cracking and shifting much like Butch's had done moments before. He could see thick gray fur starting to push its way out of his skin, and the young man's eyes narrowed into small pinpricks of blue as he tossed his head back into a pained howl.

"No…" Mitch croaked as he stumbled backwards in stunned shock, "Oh god no…"

 _The werewolves that were responsible for the murders were none other the Butch and Boomer Jojo… and he was trapped in a basement with them…_ alone.

As soon as that thought raced across his mind, Mitch dropped his lantern in sheer terror. The old lantern hit the floor and the glass casing shattered on impact – killing the tiny flame inside, and plunging the gruesome scene in front of him into darkness.

He snapped himself out of his petrified trance and began to back track out of the dark space, not bothering to look where he was going. He brought his rifle up and immediately began to fire off shots into the darkness – hoping that he could land a hit on one of them in his panicked haste.

There was a bellow from the dark hallway in front of him in response to the wild shots, but even in his panicked state Mitch knew that he hadn't hit them. The roar sounded more pissed off then hurt. _Just his luck after all._

Mitch didn't dare look behind him as he backpedaled frantically, trying to put as much space in-between him and the transformed Jojo's as he could. He noticed that the hallway stared to lighten up the farther back he ran, and noticed that area he was moving into had the half-moon windows lining the tops of the walls, helping to lighten the hallway that he was running down. Casting the briefest glance behind him, he briefly registered that he was moving down the other end of the hall where the morgue was located, before another roar forced his attention back to the dark tunnel looming in front of him.

The sound of thundering paws against the floor echoed though the hall and made his heartbeat speed up dramatically, as he shot off more rounds into the space in front of him, only to see the hulking black mass of fur, teeth and claws that he faintly recognized as Butch to come charging out of the darkness at him at full speed on all fours with a blood-curdling roar.

Mitch didn't even have time to raise his gun again before the black beast was on him. The massive wolf brought his arm up and slammed Mitch up against the right-hand wall, knocking the rifle out of his hands and on to the floor. Mitch didn't have time to move out of the way before wolf Butch reared up onto his hind legs and grabbed Mitch by the throat with one massive clawed hand – pinning up against the wall. Mitch gasped for air as Butch began to squeeze down on his neck painfully, he clawed at the muscular arm desperately as Butch dug his sharp claws into his neck – halting his attempts to free himself as his vision began to swim with black spots.

There was a loud bark, and Butch turned his massive head to the side as a silver furred wolf – that Mitch could only assume was Boomer – bounded over to them, pausing as he approached the rifle. The silver furred wolf snarled irritably as he rose up onto his hind legs – picking up the rifle in one clawed hand as he did so. He made eye contact with Mitch, and his lips pulled back into what Mitch could only assume was a smirk, as he took the rifle in both hands and snapped it in two as if it was nothing more than a twig.

"N-no." Mitch coughed as he reached for the now broken rifle, only for Boomer to toss the pieces to the side as he re-directed his attention back to Mitch. The pressure on his throat suddenly increased to an almost unbearable amount, forcing his attention back to Butch, who still had him by the throat.

The hulking beast lowered his canine shaped head down slightly so he was eye to eye with Mitch. His primal green irises narrowed hatefully as he took in the sight of the struggling hunter, and opened his mouth – allowing him to see the rows upon rows of jagged blood-stained teeth in his maw. Mitch gaged as the monster's breath washed over him – it smelled like decaying flesh and something rotten that he just couldn't place and didn't want to.

He was on the brink of losing conscious, as Butch's grip on his throat became tighter and tighter, before a low voice – that would haunt his nightmares for years to come – snapped him back to the present.

Mitch's eyes snapped open and focused on Butch as his jaws moved closer to his face. His eyes widened impossibly as a deep voice that rumbled from low in his chest came out of his powerful jaws.

" **You swine…."**

Mitch stared, shell-shocked as the snarling voice came out of the pissed off werewolf. He felt himself go limp from shock as he struggled to comprehend what was going on.

 _Werewolves didn't talk. They couldn't! They had no humanity left in them, they were just savage animals that had no memories of their human selves. They had… no conscious… they didn't think, they didn't feel – they didn't know how to do anything but kill! His grandmother and father had taught him that much! But then how the hell could he-_

Mitch's thoughts were interrupted as Butch's ears flatted against his head, and he suddenly felt himself became air-born as Butch all but _threw_ him to the side as if he was a rag doll. He felt his back collide into a set of swinging double doors with large glass panes down the middle – he figured as much as he felt himself get blown back through the glass part of the doors – effectively shattering them – and landed on his back, surrounded by glass in a large room filled with windows and tall wooden structures – that looked like cabinets, lined up along the walls and in the center of the room.

Wheezing, Mitch struggled to pick himself up out of the halo of glass that surrounded him, only to collapse with a groan of pain. He felt something warm and wet drip down the side of his face, and hesitantly lifted a hand to probe the tender area, only to discover that a large gash had opened up near his hairline, causing blood to gush down into his eye and drip down onto the grimy tile floor beneath him.

"Fuck me…" Mitch gasped as he heaved himself upright onto unsteady legs. Glancing around the room, he realized with dread that he was standing in the asylum's morgue and that there was only one set of doors leading in and out of the room – the very ones that he had been thrown though.

"Fuck I need to get out of this basement." Mitch coughed as he quickly began to move away from the doors and out of sight. "I have to get to the main floor and lure them outside. I can't fight them in here, they have too much of an advantage." As he said that, he shot another weary look at the door as he quickly realized that Butch and Boomer would burst through them at any second to finish him off. He would need to wait until they were both in the room with him before he made a break for the exit.

Taking cover behind an overturned operating table, he panted quietly as he scanned the room, looking for the massive wolves. "Those bustards broke my rifle… I'm going to have to use the shotgun-"

He froze as he felt for the strap across his chest that tapered his shotgun to his backside, only to feel it missing. "Shit, shit! It must have gotten ripped off when that unholy fucker tossed me in here." Mitch hissed, as he quickly began to figure out that today was really not his day. First, he was tricked into coming to this awful place, secondly, he discovered that the werewolves he had been tasked to kill were none other than the Jojo brothers – only for them to break his favorite hunting rifle, and finally, his shotgun – his last means of any decent protection against them – was missing when he needed it most.

He twisted in his crouched position, trying to locate where his shot gun had fallen, only to see it a few feet away on his left in an open space of the large room.

He made a move towards it, before the sound of the morgues doors slamming open and deep growling made him freeze. He cast a side-long look over his shoulder, to see a massive hind paw, covered in thick black fur, step into view.

Mitch threw himself back down behind the operating tables pathetic cover, and slowly raised his head back up over the top, only to see the green-eyed beast round the corner where he was hiding.

The massive bipedal wolf let out a low growl as he sniffed the air, trying to determine were the injured hunter was hiding. Mitch watched in silent horror as the wolf knelt down by the small pool of blood on the floor where he had been just seconds ago, and dipped a sharp claw into it, bringing it up to his nose and inhaling deeply. The black beast let out a sharp bark, and Mitch watched as the silver furred wolf, lept up on top of the wooden storage units nearby in response to his brothers call.

" **He's in here… find him."** The silver furred wolf- no _Boomer –_ Mitch corrected himself – nodded and lept off of the storage units to another part of the room that Mitch couldn't see. A low rumble cut through the air and redirected his attention back to Butch who had strained up as much as he could on his hind legs, and was now slowly starting to move towards his hiding spot.

" **I know you're in here boy… come out now… you cannot hide from us… I can smell you…"**

"Shit." Mitch muttered as he glanced over to where his shotgun was lying. His heart-rate began to speed up as he weighed his options. He didn't know where exactly in the room Boomer was, but he couldn't stay in the same spot unarmed with Butch closing in on him.

He glanced back and forth between the rapidly approaching werewolf to the shotgun lying a few feet away. He made up his mind.

"FUCK IT!" he bellowed as he jumped upright, startling the werewolf in front of him for the briefest of moments. In a burst of adrenaline, Mitch kicked the table he was hiding behind towards Butch and bolted for his shotgun – not stopping to look behind him as Butch let out a roar and flung the table out of his way, hitting the wall of storage units beside them and breaking on impact.

Mitch slid towards his shotgun and grabbed the handle of it. in one fluid motion, he flicked the safety off and pumped it, hearing the satisfying sound of the bullets clicking into place inside the chamber – and whipped around to face the charging Butch. He fired off a round at the nightmarish creature, forcing him to dodge the shot by climbing up the tower of storage units at a surprising speed for a beast his size.

He pumped the shotgun again and was about to send off another round at the green-eyed monster, before an enraged howl off to his left forced his attention away from the top of the cabinets. The silver furred wolf was running towards him on his hind legs – nightmarish claws fully extended – as he ran towards him with the intention of ripping him apart.

"No. You. Fucking DON'T!" Mitch gritted out as he pivoted on his heal and fired off a devastating blast of silver in the blue-eyed beast's direction. The wolf let out a yelp and slammed himself into the wall to avoid the deadly blast.

In a flurry of movement, both werewolves darted out of range and slunk into the shadows of the room, circling the weary hunter, who dipped a hand into his ammo bag to reload his shotgun without taking his eyes off of them. Both werewolves snarled at him, their fangs, claws and eyes glinting ominously from the shadows as they circled him, just out of the shotguns range. Growing frustrated at the creatures, Mitch pumped the shotgun again, the click-bolt overpowering the snarls that were emanating from the shadowy corners of the room.

"Come on boys!" Mitch bellowed at the bipedal wolves who were growling and snarling at him from the shadowy corners of them room. "Come on then! I haven't gotten all day! You wanted me down here so you could try and kill me right? Well here I am! Now FINISH THE JOB!" he roared as he fired off a shot at Boomer, who had started to slink closer to him.

The werewolves adopted what looked like twisted grins on their faces as they eyed the bleeding hunter that stood before them. They glanced toward each other for the briefest of moments, before the massive black furred one let out a low bark and dropped onto all fours, slowly beginning to back up towards the door leading out of the morgue. To his surprise, the silver furred beast followed his lead and also moved back towards the exit on all fours.

Mitch didn't dare to breathe as both wolves suddenly bolted out of the doors leading out of the morgue – their howls echoing down the dark hallway they had come from earlier, leaving Mitch alone in the destroyed room with his thoughts.

Mitch didn't dare to lower his rifle, even after he was sure that they had left the room. Breathing hard, he wiped the side of his face in vain to try and staunch the blood that was running freely down the side of his face, as he tried to piece together the odd behavior that he was witnessing.

 _The movements were too human, even for a transformed one. Werewolves should be able to mimic a human's way of thought and speech. Something was very seriously wrong with the transformed Jojo's, and until he could figure out what it was, he knew that he would have to stay low and figure out a way to escape._

He frowned as he slowly began to move towards the exit doors. _Just why the hell did they bolt? They had him where they wanted him after all, so why would they leave?_

The answer came to him a second later as he stood directly in front of the busted open doors.

 _They were playing with him._

Mitch gripped his rifle tighter as the chilling realization washed over him like a bucket of cold water. He had seen similar types of behavior before in other animal packs. They would tease and wear their pray down before they killed it. it was a sadistic method of hunting, but an effective one. He set his jaw in a firm line as he pumped his shotgun once again. _He wasn't about to be some unfortunate victim to theses beasts. They could mess with him all they wanted, but he wasn't about to go down without a fight._

Bracing himself, he pushed open the swinging doors and stepped out into the moonlit hallway, only to see nothing there. Cocking his shotgun, he slowly advanced down the hallway and made his way back to the solitary confinement chamber he had walked through earlier. He pointed his shotgun in every direction, trying to see if he could spot where the beasts were hiding, only to see absolutely nothing.

"Now where the hell did those bastards run off to?" Mitch muttered as he made his way towards the basement staircase that would lead him back up to the main floor. "They've gotta be around here somewhere… they want me to come out here… so they have to be-"

The smallest shuffle above him caught his attention. Mitch closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he reopened them and looked up. There, hanging above him on a set of light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, like some kind of nightmarish bat – were the werewolves. As soon as they noticed that Mitch had spotted them, they grinned down at him – their teeth gleaming in the moonlight – as their muscles bunched and coiled, getting ready to throw themselves down.

"…In the same room as me." The brunette finished with a sigh just as both monsters lept down from their hiding spots on top of the light fixtures with feral bellows.

"Fucking shit!" Mitch roared as he dove out of the way to avoid getting crushed by the two monsters. Knowing that he wouldn't have enough time to fire off a round at them, he booked it towards the dark stairwell, knowing that the brutes were right behind him. He took the steps two at a time in an effort to put as much space between him and them as he could. There was a loud _bang_ at the bottom of the stairwell and the sound of scrabbling paws echoed up the stairs as both beasts fought to push themselves ahead of the other in order to get at him.

The brunette huffed as he climbed up the last few set of stairs, almost sobbing in relief as saw the doorway that led out into the main lobby. Bolting out of the dark stairwell – he slammed the doors leading into the stairs shut and locked them just in time as both beasts slammed into them – bellowing in frustration as they repeatedly began to slam their bodies into the doors in an effort to break them down.

Mitch breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned against the door, feeling the beasts throw themselves against it on the other side. "Well," he breathed, "that should keep them busy for a few-" an ear piercing bellow from the other side of the door made him stop mid-sentence as a massive clawed arm crashed through the wooden door, splintering the wood next to his head from the force.

Mitch let out a yell of surprise that quickly turned into a scream of pain as the clawed hand thrashed about wildly, before latching onto his arm – digging its sharp talons though the material of his coat and into the sensitive skin of his arm – gouging deep claw marks into his forearm.

"LET GO FUCKER!" Mitch snarled as he raised the butt of his shotgun up into the air and brought it down hard on the beast's hand, drawing a yelp of him and forcing him to release the grip on his arm. Mitch gripped his bleeding forearm tightly as he backed away from the splintering door, only to see the monster pull his arm back and press one livid green eye up against the hole in the door that he had made.

Mitch shuddered involuntarily as he locked eyes with the monsters furious one. _His form had changed, and so had his eyes to a degree, but the pure, feral rage within them was the same as it was when he was a human… Butch…_ The brunette shook his head as the eye disappeared from the hole and the pounding at the door resumed with newfound strength. If memory served him correctly – Butch had always been the brother with the most volatile temper out of the three… even when they had been younger…

Clearly, it had only gotten worse as he got older, and was at its peak when he was a monster.

"That's not going to hold them forever." Mitch muttered as he backed away from the door, still clutching at his bleeding forearm. "I need to get the hell out of here and fight them outside in the open space – there are too many places for them to disappear to in here."

Mitch squinted around the barley lit lobby, trying to find the other set of doors that would take out of the bloody, tiled room. Locating their outline on the other side of the room across from him, he sprinted toward them at full speed and pleated down the pitch-black space, not bothering to check if anything was following him – his only concern making it to the room beyond the hallway that led out of the hellish asylum.

A faint light up ahead caught his attention, and the bleeding hunter pushed his legs into overdrive as he made a mad dash towards it – leaving a trail of his own blood behind him – and nearly falling flat on his face several times in his haste to get away.

"Yes!" Mitch panted as he dashed out of the pitch-black hallway and into the main entrance. "The exit is just over there! If I can just make it out of here, I can fight them outside and take them down out there-"

All of the sudden a heavy weight slammed into his right side, knocking him off balance, and slamming him again the wall, effectively knocking the wind out of him, as he slumped to his hands and knees.

He coughed violently as he tried to force air into his deprived lungs – trying to figure out what the hell had rammed into him, only to hear a low chuckle from above him that made his heart stop and his blood turn to ice.

"Aw, I'm sorry Mitch, that was rude of me. You'll have to forgive Butch as well – he's never had very good manners."

"Well…" Mitch coughed. "I was wondering when the hell you were going to show up. I must admit… you're a pretty convincing actor… _Brick."_

Turning his head to the side, his brown orbs widened in shock as he met the blood red eyes of a grinning, near naked, very _human_ Brick Jojo.

His eyes startled Mitch, shaking the hunter to his very core. Instead of the normal circular pupil that regular humans had, his were silted – giving him an almost feral look. The black slit contrasted ominously against his searing red eyes.

Mitch squinted, feeling as if he had seen those eyes somewhere before. His blood turned to ice as he realized where he had seen those same eyes.

 _The last time he had seen those feral red eyes had been in the forest last full moon – when he had fought for his life against the Alpha male. Then, he had been a seven, almost eight-foot-tall werewolf, covered in brown fur and had teeth and claws the size of stake knifes, as opposed to the near bare man before him. The body was different, but the eyes remained the same… The eyes gave everything away._

"Jesus Christ…" Mitch muttered as he felt a torrent of blood run down the right side of his face from a large gash that had opened up by his hairline. "It's you… you're the Alpha, aren't you…"

"That is correct sir!" Brick beamed. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that my brothers are Alpha's as well. You've seen them already. One could say that it runs in the family."

A low growl echoed from the darkness behind Brick, causing Mitch to peer into the darkness behind the almost bare man, only to see two hulking shapes materializes out of the shadows behind Brick. _Butch and Boomer had come to join the party._

The bigger of the two snarled threateningly and narrowed his primal green eyes. He took a step towards him on his powerful hind legs, only for Brick to throw up a hand – telling him without words to wait. "Patience Butch. Give him a moment to catch his breath. You've already done quite the number on him." Brick rumbled teasingly to the black furred beast, receiving a growl in response. "I think that we owe our old friend here an explanation as to what's going on. God knows he deserves one. He's the smartest one in the whole damn town after all."

"W-what the fuck is going on here?" Mitch sputtered as he struggled to rise to his feet. Brick's grin only became wider as he watched bemusedly as the hunter shakily rose to his feet.

"I don't know. You tell me." He snickered ominously. "You're smart enough… after all, you managed to figure out what we are in a matter of a few weeks, while it's taken the rest of the town almost _two decades."_

Mitch wiped blindly at the side of his face in an attempt to stanch the blood running down his face and neck, as he wearily eyed the auburn haired… _being_ , in front of him. _Just what the hell was he? He and his brothers were most definitely werewolves – that much he was certain. One didn't just turn into a wolf on the night of a full moon before his very eyes – it simply wasn't possible. and yet… there was something else that was off about him and his brothers. Something so ominous and foreboding that it made him want to run. Something that he hadn't felt like doing in years._

 _No. there was something seriously wrong with them… aside from the fact that they were creatures of the night thought only to exist in legends. There was something off about the whole nightmarish scene that was laid out before him._

Swallowing thickly, he placed one hand on the freezing tiled wall behind him as he steadied himself – glaring venomously at the half morphed Jojo brother's slinking in the shadows behind their eldest brother. Brick smirked as he caught the murderous look on Mitch's face. Crossing his arms, he grinned broadly. "Well?" He challenged. "Go on, amuse us. We're waiting."

Mitch scowled and fought the urge to flip the crimson eyed man off, thinking better of it. The humanoid creature standing before him was a sadist at best, and would probably take great joy in making sure that his death was a long, drawn-out one. If he could just buy himself some time, he could think of a way to escape the beasts. But first…

"I know what werewolves are… I know how they act, I know how they turn, I know how they act… but you three… there's something different about you… You are completely different from other Lycan's. You… it's almost like you three can-" he cut himself off as he glances around at the two other Jojo's growling and snapping at him from the shadows behind their brother – each in a various stage of transformation, save for Brick.

"-Change at will." The brown-haired man whispered as he suddenly began to piece together the horrible truth, that was quickly turning into his nightmare.

"You catch on fast. I suppose someone of your expertise would have too." Brick grinned wider, allowing Mitch to get a full view of the rows of razor sharp teeth insides his maw.

"Unfortunately for you – that information isn't going to help you much. See, you got lucky last time we met, after all – my brothers and I were there to kill _you_ – the other hunters just got in the way." Brick informed him as he slowly advanced on the still disorientated hunter.

"See, as nice as it was to see you again – you've become too much of a threat to keep around. It's a shame really. You didn't listen to those old bags in the town – you never did call us any of the horrid names they did." He sighed regrettably.

"They were right about you three all along." Mitch whispered as he felt around in his belt for his hunting knife. "You really _are_ damned."

"More so then we'd care to admit now – but regardless, certain sacrifices had to be made. You're drive for life is strong, and we can appreciate that however…" Brick stepped closer to him as his red eyes darkened to a light eating black. "We want to exist in this world too, much like you do. And we cannot co-exist together – you've made that perfectly clear."

"You and your brothers need to go back to Hell where you belong." Mitch snarled as he unsheathed his wicked looking hunting knife from its holster – dizziness long forgotten. Brick looked at the curved blade in his hands, and reached up to touch his shoulder with a sneer – the same shoulder that he had previously stabbed him in, Mitch realized with a jolt.

"Oh, you would not believe how many times we've been told that from those repulsive elders in town, much like that witch you call a grandmother." Brick sneered, before resigning himself with a cruel smile that made Mitch's insides turn to ice. "But life is far too glorious Mitch, especially for the cursed and the damned like myself and my brothers."

"You're insane." Mitch muttered as he tightened his grip on the blades handle. "If you honestly think that I'm going to allow you three to leave this asylum alive, then you have another thing coming." Brick let out a sarcastic laugh as the transformed Butch and Boomer let out choked barking noises behind him, that Mitch could only assume was laughter.

"I'm afraid to tell you that the odds aren't in your favor this time Mitch. The last time we met, you managed to escape death by sheer dumb luck – and you aren't so proud as to try and deny that. Now, you're stuck in her with all three of us, and this time… we have all of our senses to us. We aren't simple, mindless beasts anymore. _We're whole now_."

Mitch could only stare in baffled confusion at the man's words. Before he could even try to decipher what they meant, Brick snapped his fingers and the hulking beasts that were Butch and Boomer moved in behind him, bearing their elongated fangs at the injured hunter.

"As fun as this little chat his been, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut it short." Brick informed him with a slick smile. "This basement is going to be your tomb, but don't you worry – take comfort in the fact that we'll make your death a quick one."

"You can try, but I'm not going down without a fight." Mitch snarled as he brought the hunting knife up. Brick rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. But that," he guested to the large knife, "is not going to do much against us. The only thing that might be able to help you is that fucking rifle of yours… the one that you broke… how unfortunate." He informed him, not sounding apologetic in the slightest. "I still have my shotgun." Mitch informed him as he gripped the powerful gun tighter. "You honestly think that you'll be able to fire off a round before we're on you?" Brick challenged with an unkind smirk. "I doubt it, the reloading time on shot guns takes far longer than a hunting rifle. We'll have torn you to pieces by then."

"I'm still not going to make it easy for you. I'm going to fight you until my dying breath." Mitch informed them with an almost feral snarl of his own. "We didn't expect anything less of you." Brick responded coolly. "Ah your death is going to send shockwaves throughout the town… people are going to be deviated… but they'll learn… that we are not to be fucked with. They've seem to forgotten that golden rule with your arrival."

He cast a smirk behind him at his brothers who still hadn't taken their canine-like eyes off of the ragged hunter. "That and our poor, poor girls are going to be so heartbroken… they'll need someone to turn to comfort them… and we'll be there to do so."

Mitch felt his heart stop at the eldest Jojo's words. _There's only three girls he could be talking about… no, no no no NO! NOT THEM!_ He thought desperately in a panic as he mind traveled back to Buttercup, Blossom and Bubbles.

"You keep the Utonium's out of this." Mitch whispered, lowering his eyes for a fraction of a second, before looked back up to glare hatefully at the beasts in front of him. "They're innocent – I swear to whatever god is listening, if you lay a single damn figure on them I will cut you from armpit to ass and hang your entrails over the fire if you touch them, I swear to god-"

"Oh, they're already involved." Brick brushed away his threats, casing the colour to drain out of Mitch's face. "They've been involved from the moment we met them." He informed the brunette, before his eyes darkened into endless pools of black.

"…and if you think that we'll let someone like you take away what is rightfully ours, we _will_ destroy you and everything you love."

"They aren't yours." Mitch snarled as he slashed the air. "I might die here tonight, but I'll take the three of you with me… I won't let you touch them… I don't know what plans you have in store for them – but I won't let it come to pass. I'll stop you with my dying breath!" Mitch swore as he watched Brick's face darken like thunder.

A lesser man would have turned tail and ran at the sight of the almost demonic looking man, but Mitch was too enraged to care, only shifting into a fighting stance as he braced himself for what was truly going to be the fight of his life.

"Well if that's the way you think…" Brick rumbled as his face almost seemed to split down the middle. "Then I think our little game ends here."

He snapped his fingers once and the morphed Butch and Boomer stood rigidly by him, fangs bared and claws unsheathed. Brick grinned as Mitch watched as the eldest Jojo's bones began to shift and crack ominously – much like he had seen Butch and Boomer do before – making him grow bigger and broader before his very eyes.

"Butch, Boomer." Brick growled out slowly. His voice sounded like it had taken on two pitches – one was of his normal speaking voice, but the other… sounded deep and otherworldly, as if something feral and primal was trying to claw its way out of him. His burning red eyes narrowed into slits as they focused on Mitch, and his jaws started to elongate, filling themselves with rows of razor sharp teeth. The half-morphed beast shot Mitch a twisted smile.

"Get him."

Mitch barely had time to think as both massive wolves launched themselves has him. Thinking fast, he dropped low to the ground and rolled out of the way, just as the werewolf with jet black fur – _Butch he reminded himself –_ sailed overhead and crashed into the wall where has head had been seconds ago, with such force that the old white tile cracked and shattered around him.

Rolling to his right, he sheathed his hunting knife as he caught sight of a flash of silver fur barreling towards him, and twisted just in time to avoid a ring of teeth as they snapped shut by his head. Letting out a grunt, he aimed a well-timed punch that collided into the side of Boomer's canine shaped head, earning a yelp of surprise for his efforts. He moved back as one of his massive claws swiped wildly at him, and slammed the butt of the shotgun into it, hearing a satisfying _crack_ echo above the angry howls of the three lycans as they circled him hungrily.

"Back. OFF!" He barked as the silver furred lycan pulled his injured paw back with a roar. The lean wolf like creature began to advance on him slowly – murder written across his face – causing Mitch to back up, brandishing his shotgun like a club. He risked a look over to his left and could just make out the faint outline of the doors leading out of the asylum.

 _I need to somehow get past them and get to those doors._ He thought to himself as he twisted around, making sure to keep the dark and light furred lycan's in his sight. _If I can fight them out in the open, I'll be able to see where they're coming from – that, or if I can just make it until morning, they should lose their abilities-_

His back slammed into something warm and solid, and Mitch bit down on his lip to prevent a curse from escaping him. Whirling around, he came face to face with the beast that had been haunting his nightmares for the past month.

There, standing at seven and a half feet, covered in dark brown fur, and complete with wrathful red eye – was the Alpha, _or rather Brick as he now knew_.

"'low Brick." Mitch muttered as he crouched down into a fighting stance. "let's dance demon."

The beasts pointed ears pricked forward, and his black lips twisted upwards into what Mitch could only assume was a smile. **"In time boy… I think I will let my dear baby brother have some fun with you…"**

"How in fuck's name are you and your brothers talk- GAH FUCK!"

Mitch gagged as he felt himself get lifted up by his neck by a clawed hand. He began to thrash around in the suffocating hold as he suddenly found himself staring into blue silted eyes which he determined belonged to Boomer.

" **So sorry Mitch."** Boomer rumbled around a snarl as he hosted the hunter up by his neck. **"It's nothing personal… it's just how things must be."** His jaws twisted into a depraved smile. **"Don't worry though – we'll take** _ **good**_ **care of the girls in your absence. What do you have to say about that?"**

Mitch grunted as he lowered one of his hands to his belt where his hunting knife was sheathed in its holster. In an act of desperation, he grasped the handle and whipped the knife out of its sheath and raked it across the silver furred beast's abdomen – leaving a long line of red in its wake, staining the light coloured fur crimson. Boomer let out a scream of pain and dropped him as he went to cover his bleeding stomach with both clawed hands – a stream of obscurities and howls pouring out of his jaws as he scrambled backwards on his hind legs. Mitch quickly rose to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"I say if you're going to kill someone, then do it. Don't stand around talking about it."

Brick let out a furious roar upon seeing his younger brother fall back in pain and rushed him – tackling Mitch with the force of a train and slammed him into the ground. He brought one massive paw up, intending to crush Mitch's skull, but the angered hunter was quicker. Bringing the hunting knife up again, he let out an enraged scream, and jabbed it into the brown-furred monsters forearm and twisted it – causing the wolf to howl in pain and rage.

" **Fuck! Again?!"** he shirked as he backhanded Mitch, causing his head to snap back from the force of the blow and lose his grip on the knife, leaving it embedded in Brick's powerful arm. The brown furred wolf tore the blade out of his arm and snapped it in two – hurdling the pieces off to the side as he advanced on the disoriented hunter.

" **Now."** Brick snarled, grinning sadistically at him as he grabbed him by the collar, lifting him up so that they were eye to eye. **"It looks like you are out of ideas little man."** Mitch coughed and sputtered around the tight grip that the bipedal wolf had on him. Without breaking eye contact with Brick's searing red irises, he grasped his ammo bag and reached inside it, drawing out a handful of silver bullets.

"Not quite." He croaked with a tiny grin of his own. The wolf's black lips dropped into a frown. **"What do you mean- AHHHHHHHGGGGHHHHHH!"**

The inhuman scream that tore out of the creatures elongated jaws was a sound that Mitch would commit to memory for the rest of his life, as he slammed the fistful of silver into the beast's broad chest – watching in satisfaction as the thick brown fur around the area took on a singed look – and the skin underneath began to blister, almost as if he had been burned.

In his agony, Brick refused to relinquish his hold on the brunette, causing the man to press the silver harder into his chest – hoping to send the creature into shock or kill him.

"Yeah? Silver hurts you _real_ bad, don't it? How does that feel you filthy mutt-"

His voice suddenly cut out in the middle of his sentence as a torrent of pain – some of the likes of which he had never experienced before – ripped through his body like a shockwave. He glanced down at his arm that was pressing the silver into Brick's chest – only to come face to face with a set of livid green eyes and a powerful set of jaws enclosed around his arm.

It took him less than a second to realize what was about to happen. But it was a second too long.

Before he could even think to rip his arm away from the green-eyed monsters grasp – Butch had sunk his razor-sharp teeth down into his left arm with frightening speed and strength. He screamed as he felt the brute's teeth sear though skin, muscle and nerves, all the way down to the bone.

Before he could even think to open his mouth to scream again – he felt Butch's teeth cut down into the junction between his humerus and elbow – severing the bones in his arm, and tearing the bitten half off with a sickening wet rip.

Mitch couldn't breathe. He couldn't move – not even as Brick finally dropped him, howling in pain as he clutched at his chest. He collapsed onto the dirty tile floor as he stared in shock at the bloody stump where his arm used to be in disbelieve – watching numbly as blood poured out of his arm in a fierce red current.

Butch dropped his severed arm out of his mouth with a low growl and moved back to check on Brick, who was still howling in agony and clawing at his chest, allowing Mitch the chance to crawl forward and shakily pick up his detached arm with his right hand. He stared at it in shock for a moment as his mind tried to put two and two together, as he turned his frantic, wide eyes toward the faint outline of the asylum's front doors – the place that he was trying to get to originally. While the wolves were distracted with trying to pacify Brick, he picked up his arm and shot gun in his right hand and shakily rose on unsteady feet, and began to make his way towards the front doors, a thick trail of blood pouring out of his stump with sickening force as he hobbled to the entrance doors.

" **ARRRROOOOOWWWWW!"** A blood curdling howl from behind him echoed in the enclosed space and before he could turn to face the source of the sound, one of the lycan's barreled into his back, throwing him forward and slamming him through the doors and out onto the snow-covered lawn. Mitch herd his horse neighing in shock upon seeing his rider in such a state, but before he could push himself up to get to his mount, the shotgun and his severed arm were ripped from his grasp, and the air was knocked out of his lungs as he was pressed into the ground by a massive paw. Suddenly he felt himself getting turned over onto his back, only to find himself staring up into Brick's furious red eyes.

" **That… was a BIG mistake."** The wolf managed to huff in-between large, panting breaths, as his razor-sharp talons dig painfully into his chest, causing Mitch to wince as he felt the claws pierce his skin. He glanced at the spot on Brick's barrel chest where he had pressed the silver into, only to see that the thick brown fur had been charred away and the visible skin was bright red and oozing puss.

Mitch could only stare at the spot in disbelief. _He hadn't even shot him with the silver… So even just touching it hurt them…_ he was snapped out of his thoughts, as Brick brought his massive head down so they were eye to eye with each other. The pointed ears on top of his head pricked forward as he locked eyes with the battered hunter.

" **We've toyed with you for long enough… now it's time that we** _ **finish this."**_ He roared as the transformed Butch and Boomer appeared on either side of him, ginning down at him sinisterly. Brick's lips curled back exposing his sharp canines

" **This will not be quick. You will not enjoy this."** Brick promised with a threatening snarl as the low moonlight glinted off of his massive fangs ominously, but Mitch only shook his head slowly at the hulking beast as he spread his arms out with a delusional smile.

"Do with me as you will… I'm basically dead as it is… nothing you can do can hurt me anymore then I am now…" he muttered as he closed his eyes. Brick narrowed his silted eyes as his mouth twisted into an unpleasant grimace.

" **I think… that you'll find that there are many ways we can hurt you yet… Allow us to demonstrate."**

Mitch heard his horse baying in terror as the wolves descended on him, ripping and snarling – but he couldn't bring himself to care – not even as his horse's frantic baying was cut short with a wet squeal.

He realized that he couldn't feel anything anymore as they began to tear into him with renewed vigor, and a part of his brain screamed at him that he was on the brink of death, but he couldn't do anything to stop the beasts that where ripping away at his skin and digging into his innards. He simply didn't have any more strength that he could expend to fight them off.

He was a dead man. And the hardest part about that fact was admitting to himself that he knew he was too.

As his vision cut to black, he allowed a silent, humble tear to fall out of the corner of his eye and fall onto the blood-stained snow below him, as the faces of people that he knew and cared about suddenly began to appear before his very eyes. Four woman in particular stood out to him as he laid broken and defeated in the snow.

His eyes shut in pain as he thought about what would happen to the Utonium sisters once he was gone.

 _Girls… Buttercup… Bubbles… Blossom… God I am so sorry that I couldn't stop them… please… you need to see past their facade… you need to destroy them if you get the chance… Please be safe._ He silently begged the Utonium triplets, knowing full well that he was wishing for a miracle.

Suddenly, his mind suddenly flicked to the last woman – one with soft brown hair and gentle blue eyes – the woman who had been on his mind since he had arrived in the cursed town.

 _Robin… Robin baby… You were right… I never should have come back here… we left this place for a reason. I'm sorry that I'll never be able to marry you and give you the life that you deserve… you take care of yourself love… I'll see you one day again…_

The smallest of smiles passed over his face at the thought of the woman whom he had chosen to spend his life with, and a peaceful numbness washed over his body as the lycan's continued to tear away at him.

Just as he felt himself about to slip away into the rapidly approaching darkness that was about to swallow him whole – his eyes snapped open and a deafening scream tore out of his throat as he felt one of the monster's jaws puncture his femoral artery.

With the reminder of his strength depleted, he collapsed back into the scarlet stained snow as his eyes rolled into the back into his head and the world faded to black…

* * *

 **Outside the Insane Asylum**

"Goddamn it! Where the hell did that freaky broad go?!"

Ace snarled in frustration as he removed his shades to scan the area around him. "She teases me, saying that she wants it and then she pulls a disappearing act on us. What the fuck." He snarled furiously.

"Bossss, maybe we sssssshould turn back." Snake lisped from behind him, panting lightly as he struggled to keep up with his sexually frustrated leader. "We've been chassssing after her for hourssss… I think sssshe'ssss given ussss the sssslip."

"No, we're going to find that broad." Ace snapped back as he stomped forwards thought the gnarled trees that were blocking his path. "Nobody makes a fool outta of Ace Coupler. Besides, she didn't have that much offa head start on us, and we saw her come through here not too long ago – so she's gotta be around here somewhere."

"But Acccce, it's almosssst dawn!" Snake protested with a whine. "The boyssss and I are exhaussssted and we've been running though thesssse woodssss for hours. I thought you ssssaid that there wasss ssssomething in here that you wanted to avoid-"

The lanky man trailed off as Ace stopped short in front of him, causing him to smack into his back. Ace looked around the wooded area that the odd woman had lead them into. He had been so preoccupied with finding her, that he had barely registered that she had led them straight into the woods – the last place he wanted to be.

"You know, now that you mention it: it's been awful quiet tonight." Ace mused. "Last time they were out, you could hear the things from a mile away, but it seems like they haven't made an appearance tonight."

"Ssssso, that'sss a good thing?" Snake asked timidly. "That's a very good thing." Ace confirmed. "Unless you wanna get ripped apart like those hunters from last month, then yeah, it's a good thing that they aren't around."

He pushed his way through more dead hanging branches "Dunno where the fuck they are, but I ain't complaining. The farther away they are from here, the better it is for us." He paused, looking around the forest. "Jesus I ain't every been out here before – just where the hell is this broad leading us to? Back to her place I hope." He snickered as he rubbed his hands together.

"Goddamn I need a good fuck, as soon as we find this broad, I'm gonna-"

" _Aggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"_

A horrible scream that sounded as if it came from just up ahead of them made them stop in their tracks and absolutely still as they listened to the awful sound. "Ey man, what the hell is that?" Arturo asked nervously from the rear. "I dunno, shut up for a minute and let me listen." Ace snapped back as he tried to determine where the cry had originated from.

After a moment, he pointed up ahead of him. "I think it came from somewhere up there… shit do you think it was that chick?" Snake shrugged. "It sssssounded more masssssuline… I wonder where ssssshe went though-"

"Never mind that, I wanna see who the hell is making that sound." Ace chuckled as he continued pushing his way thought the dead undergrowth. "With our luck, it's going to be some sucker who's got his foot stuck in a bear trap-"

His voice died in his throat as he pulled back more dead underbrush only to find himself in a clearing, gazing up at an old five story building that was looming in front of him.

"I… what the hell is this?" He muttered as he stepped out into the clearing. "Accce? What'ssss going on? Where are we?" Snaked lisped as he made his way out of the woods to stand beside the lanky man. "I dunno Snake." Ace muttered as he heard Arturo, Billy and Gubber trample out of the underbrush to stand beside them, "I've got no fucking clue, but that sound came from around here, I'm sure of it-"

A small moan, followed by wet ripping sounds from the lawn in front of the building caught his attention. Ace peered around the dark area, only to notice that the moon had almost completely disappeared beyond the horizon, meaning that dawn was fast approaching, as the sky overhead began to lighten to a light purple. He took his sun glasses off to squint at the spot where he determined that the sounds were coming from, and took a few steps forward to see what was causing the awful sounds.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

There, laying in snow that was drenched in crimson liquid, was a young man covered in his own blood, and there – tearing away at what he could only assume was the remainder of the man's body – were three hulking shapes with elongated jaws filled with rows of sharp, nightmarish teeth.

From his angle, Ace couldn't tell what exactly the creatures were, but he didn't have time to dwell on what kind of species they could possibly be, as he felt Snake peer over his shoulder to see what he was staring at, only to gasp in shock and horror.

"Oh my god! What are they!? What are they doing to that guy?!"

The three beasts paused their mauling for the briefest of moments, as Ace slapped a hand over Snake's mouth in panic. "Shut the hell up man, do you what that to be us?!"

But Snake wasn't looking at Ace or Arturo, Billy or Grubber. Ace watched as Snake turned white as a sheet and shakily pointed ahead of them to the frightening scene ahead of them. "T-too l-late Ace… I-I think that they heard…."

Ace wiped his head back around to stare at the creatures, only for his heart to drop into his stomach as he realized that all three creatures were staring directly at him – their lips pulled back as threatening snarls escaped their throats. Ace felt like gaging as he noticed that their thick pelts were splattered with blood.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Snake squeaked in terror as the beasts slowly began to move away from the injured man and advance towards them. "Fuck it, I got no clue, but I ain't dying like that poor fucker over there." Ace snarled as he opened his coat, trying to make himself appear bigger.

"OI!" He yelled towards them, causing the creatures ears to perk up in interest. "FUCK OFF!" He bellowed, as he nudged Snake – wordlessly telling him to do the same. "Uh… y-yeah! Fuck off!" Snake coughed, causing Ace to roll his eyes as his second in commands voice cracked uncharacteristically.

The beasts stood their ground, unmoving, as their ears picked forwards and the briefest look of reciliation passed over their dog-like faces, before their pointed ears flatted back against their heads, and a fresh wave of snarls erupted from deep in their chests at the false bravo that the odd-looking gang members were putting up.

"Aw, shit… Arturo, Billy, Grubber – start making noise. Maybe these things are like bears – make enough nose and they go away!" Ace called over his shoulder, prompting the three men behind him to start bellowing at the tops of their lungs in an effort to intimate the creatures standing before them.

"Ah Accce? Doesssn't that only work for mountain lionsss?" Snake muttered, shrinking backwards slightly as Ace shot him a venomous look. "I will feed you to whatever the hell these things are." He threatened. "Now shut up and help me scare these things off."

The loud shouting did nothing to denture the creatures from moving closer towards the group, much to Ace's dismay. As the beasts advanced on the men, Ace could see that each of the three brutes were slightly different from the other. One had dark brown fur with eyes the colour of blood, the second one's fur was a light-eating black with green eyes that were as dark as the middle of the forest, and the last one has silver fur that was flicked with blood and had blue eyes that were as deep as the ocean.

Ace fought back a shudder as he locked eyes with the monsters. _There was something about their eyes that was so familiar to him – especially the one with the rage-filled green eyes – but he couldn't figure out what it was and it irked him._

Locking eyes with the black furred beast once again, a snarl tore out of its massive jaws, making the greasy haired man stop in his tracks.

" **Ace..."** the deep guttural growl cut through the air like a knife, making the pink eyed man freeze in his attempts to scare them off, and simply stare that the dark furred beast in disbelieve at what he had just heard. "I… what-?" he croaked out in shock just as the first rays of the sun began to creep across the lawn, separating them from the beasts.

The one with the burning red eyes noticed the pink tinted rays of sunshine slice across the snow and a look that was similar to panic crossed over its face as it let out an ear piecing howl, redirecting the attentions of its companions back over to it. The beast let out a sharp bark and jerked its head in the direction of the hills leading away from the asylum, prompting the other two to look its way.

With low, angry growls, they focused their attentions back on the gang, and began to advance towards them once again, before an irritated roar from the red eyed beast forced them to stop in their tracks. The black and silver monsters glared hatefully at the odd group of men, before they relented and slowly began to back away from them and towards the first beast.

With one last look at the gang, all three, turned around and ran out of the area on all fours, just as the early morning sunlight completely filled the asylums yard – purging the reaming shadows of the night away, leaving nothing of the night's events behind, except for the blood-stained snow and the mangled body of the young man a few feet away from where they were standing.

"W-why did they just leave…?" Snake muttered as he stared after the retreating creatures. "Who the hell cares!" Arturo snapped as he brushed past Snake. "I say good riddance homes. I'm more concerned about what the hell they were! Mutated bears or something? What do you think boss?"

But Ace wasn't listening as he moved closer to the young man, who was lying motionless in the snow. He bit back the urge to vomit as he observed the state of the man's body. His stomach looked as if it had been torn open and one of his thighs had been gnawed almost completely down to the bone. But the worse injury that he could see had to be the man's left arm, that had been completely severed from the rest of his body. Alongside the detached arm, Ace could see a shotgun lying a foot away from the appendage.

"Heh. Looks like this guy tried to fight those things off and lost… badly." He muttered under his breath as he crouched down beside the man's blood splattered face. "You need to learn how ta pick your fights better kid." He chuckled weakly.

The slightest movement of the man's diaphragm caught his attention and he felt his eyes widen in shock as he realized that they brunette was still alive. "Holy shit… Guys, get over here! The kid's still breathing! He yelled as the gangs remaining members rushed over to see for themselves. "Goddamn kid, I dunno how you're still drawin' breath, but shit…" Ace muttered as he placed one hand over the man's bleeding diaphragm in an effort to stanch the bleeding, and used the other to wipe away some of the blood that was covering his face to see who the unfortunate victim was.

"Hey, I know this guy!" Ace paled as he wiped some of the blood away from the dying brunettes face. "It's that hunter kid from the village!"

"Who?" Snake asked as he propped the young man's head up. "Some special hunter that the town brought into deal with those things that have been killin' everybody." Ace waved him away. "For Christ sake's Snake, stop holding the guy's head and put some pressure on his stomach – he's bleeding out everywhere!"

"Oh, ah right- ssssorry!" Snake muttered as he shuffled over to Mitch's stomach to press his hands over his bleeding midsection. "Ssssso… thoesssss thingssss that dissssapeared into the woodssss… were thoesss the thingssss that have been killing the townssss people?"

"Well I mean… I guess." Ace muttered as he glanced over his shoulder at the woods behind him. "What the hell are they?" Snake lisped. "I've never sssseen any animal like them before…"

"I dunno man… I dunno… did you see the way that they were looking at us though? Holy hell I thought they were going to rip us apart… those things really did a number on this poor sap… I'd hate to think about what they'd do to us…"

"and he wasssss hired to kill them?" Snake asked in disbelieve. "Yeah…" Ace muttered as he pressed down hard on the bleeding claw marks that littered the visible parts of Mitch's body. "Yeah, he was… Heh, guess that didn't work out so well, did it Mitchy?" he asked the unconscious man with a weak smirk.

"What the hell do we do man?" Arturo screeched as he tore off a strip of his overcoat to tie around Mitch's gouged out thigh. "We just got to this shitty town and this happens! They're going to blame us for this shit! I'm not going down for this man!"

"SHUT _UP_ ARTURO!" Ace roared, as he turned on the smallest member of the gang. "No one's going down for nothing. We need to get this suck back into town and to a doctor – we aint gettin' blamed for nothing if we try and save him!"

"Billy!" He snapped his fingers, catching the attention of the large man. "Daaa yeah Ace?" the obese man asked as he lumbered over to where the shade wearing man was kneeling. "Help me pick this guy up- _gently_ ok? We can't risk movin' him too much. We gotta get him back to town on the double!"

"Daaa, Ok Ace." The giant rumbled as he gently scooped the broken man up in his arms. "Good." Ace praised, "Arturo, run back to town and get some help, this guy isn't going to last for much longer – we need to move fast."

"On it boss." Arturo muttered as he bolted off in the towns direction. "Snake, Grubber you two help me put pressure on this guy's wounds while we move – we gotta slow down the bleeding or he's not going to make it back to town. "

"What about hisss arm?" Snake muttered as he pointed to the severed appendage. Ace cringed as he glanced down at the graying limb. "On second thought, you carry that Snake Eyes – the guy's probably going to want that later. We good? Now let's move – _fast_ – go, go, go!" with that, Billy began to lumber off with the unconscious Mitch in his arms – Ace and Gubber flanking him, doing their best to press down on some of his heavily bleeding wounds.

Snake shuddered and cringed as he bent down to pick up the detached, gray arm. Holding it away from him, he held back the bile that was threatening to rise up in his throat as he bolted after his retreating gang members – never once noticing the feminine figure that had materialized out of out of the shadows of the asylum that the weak morning sunrise was casting.

The pale woman's dark black hair swirled around her face like a black halo as she glanced after the retreating figures – the object of her attention held tightly in the arms of the rounded man with bright orange hair. A sad smile crossed over her blood red lips as she watched them leave.

"Good… the hunter is still alive… good… that is… very good… he cannot die… not just yet… I still need him alive for what is to come…"

She spared a glance at the man who she had hoped to save. One of his arms had been bitten clean off, and he was more dead than alive… but he was still with the world of the living. Granted, he wasn't in good shape, but he was still alive, which – if she was honest with herself – was more then what she had been hoping for.

She shook her head sadly, as wild, dark strands of hair blew softly around her face in the cold morning winds – watching as the group of men that she had led out into the woods, carefully picked up the broken hunter and his torn off limb – making a beeline back towards the town.

"Stay strong my hunter… You cannot die yet… I'll need you to help me soon."

And with that, she vanished into thin air… as if she had never been there at all.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

The boys wearily climbed over one of the various rolling hills that lead back to their estate just as the sun rose over the hills, drenching the snow-covered land in a deep red glow.

All three were worn out, their bodies were covered in various wounds they had sustained from the fight, and were covered in blood as they made it back to the mansion. They were silent as they collapsed onto the mansions front steps – breathing heavily, as they struggled to calm their frantically palpating hearts – as they watched the sun slowly rise above the hills surrounding the estate.

Their instincts from their other forms were still fresh in their minds, as they struggled to grasp onto what was left of their humanity again.

None of the boys dared to speak for a while as they tried to process the insane events from a few hours prior – a small part of them was still in shock about what they had become and what they could do now.

Finally, it was Boomer who broke the tense silence.

"…Do you think we killed him this time?" he asked lowly – staring down at his bloodstained hands as he picked some dried blood out from underneath his fingernails.

"We had to have." Butch mattered, not bothering to look up from his bare feet. "There's no way he could have survived – not this time. You saw the condition he was in when we left him… I took his damn arm off. Even if by some miracle, he's still alive right now, he won't be for long. He'll die of blood loss long before they'll be able to get him anywhere. He's done."

"We didn't see him die though." Brick muttered as he ran a hand through his wild red hair, as he gazed challengingly into the rising sun. "You two remember what happened last time we met him in our true forms. He managed to elude death that time too."

"Yeah but Brick come on, you honestly don't think that he's going to live in the shape we left him in this time do you-" Butch protested only to be silenced with a glare from his older brother.

"Unless I see his lifeless corpse with my own two eyes, then I've got every reason to assume that he's still alive. We can't be too careful with him – look what he did to us, even when he was out numbered and overpowered – he still managed to lay a few good hits on us."

Brick snapped as he redirected his attention back to the sun. The natural red light of the sun reflected off of his searing red irises, making them glow in the low morning light. He let a loud sight out though his nose – watching as his breath turned into steam in the frigid air and fought the urge to laugh bitterly. Despite the fact that he was almost completely bare, he never got cold. It was one of the many perks about being a beast.

"Though I will admit-" he muttered after a moment – catching his brothers attention, "-considering that he was near death when we got chased off, the likelihood of him making it through the day is… extremely low."

His eyes narrowed. "Speaking about us getting chased off…" he turned to Butch. "Do you want to explain to me what Ace was doing at the asylum? Who were those people with him?"

"How the hell should I know?" Butch bit back. "I don't know what the fuck he does when he's out, and I have no clue why he was out so late last night. Ever since he heard about the hunter incident last month, he's made it a point to be back by ten at the latest."

His eyes narrowed. "As for the other people who were with him… I didn't get a clear look at them, but I have some notion as to who they are… But for Ace's safety, I'd better be wrong."

"Who are they?" Boomer asked, turning to face his dark-haired brother. "Do you know them?"

"Yes." Butch growled curtly. "If they are who I think they are, then I'm _very_ well aquatinted with them."

Boomer nodded, signaling for his brother to continue. Butch let out an irritated snarl as he rubbed his jaw, noting that it was starting to bruise from when Mitch had swung at him.

"I think it might be the rest of the Ganggreen Gang."

Both Brick and Boomer turned to stare at titan of a man sitting in-between them. "… You're sure?" Brick muttered. " _That's_ the rest of the Ganggreen gang?" Boomer asked incredulously. "Looked like a pretty pathetic group to me."

"Trust me, they used to be a lot more foreboding… that is… until they tried my patience and ended up forcing my hand." Butch muttered, cracking his neck.

"You're sure it was them?" Brick repeated, his tone taking on a challenging growl. Butch slanted his eyes at him. "More than likely." He informed him. "Ace doesn't hang with anyone from around here, and they seemed vaguely familiar from what I saw."

"Remind me again why you ran with them for a bit?" Boomer asked as he ruffled his bloodstained hair. "You just took off one morning when we were sixteen and we didn't see you for over half a year." Butch shrugged.

"I was going stir-crazy. Dad had us locked up for almost every single full moon that year. I needed to stretch my legs – to kill. I needed to run wild and since I couldn't do it here, I went to Countyville for a bit and wreaked havoc there."

He grinned. "I never got caught obviously, but god I gained such a bad reputation there. Everyone wanted to know who was behind the livestock massacres. Heh, I'll never be able to show my face around there again."

"But you think it's them?" Brick asked impatiently. Butch gave him a half shrug. "I didn't get a good look at them, but I think so. As for what they're doing here, that's anyone's guess, but something tells me that it's _not_ by mare coincidence. First Ace starts walking around a semi-free man, and then _all_ of them show up a month later? No, _something's_ up."

"I'm more concerned about what he does when he leaves the house for hours at a time." Boomer muttered. "If he's called his whole gang here then he's up to something… but what?"

"Dunno." Brick growled as the freezing winter air tossed his cropped hair around his face. "But I think we've been a bit _too_ lenient with our newest slave. I think we're going to have to keep a closer eye on him from now on… His lackeys too – we'll figure out what it is they're up to and then dispose of them before they can cause any problems for us… The last thing we need right now are any unwanted disruptions."

"Sounds like a plan." Boomer muttered, closing his cobalt orbs as the winter sun's weak warmth washed over him. "Ace has been starting to get a bit uppity the past few weeks anyways. He's been asking questions about us."

"Does he know?" Brick asked. Boomer slowly shook his head.

"He knows about as much as everybody else. Only now he's actually seen us. But he doesn't know what we are exactly, no."

"Good. Then that mean's he can still prove useful to us yet. We still need him to keep an eye on the girls and their father… especially John, he knows too much."

Brick murmured, as he closed his eyes gently, feeling the sun on his eyelids. "We'll deal with him later. I think he'll get the message that we are not to be fucked with _very_ clearly once he hears about Mitch."

Boomer hummed in agreement. "Hopefully he gets the message. I'd hate to have to anything more to him… I don't want to upset Bubbles."

"Then pray that he gets it." Butch muttered, leaning back on the steps. "Because if he doesn't, then we'll take at as far as we have to." The boys lapsed into a grim silence at the obsidian haired man's words, and settled for watching the sun rise over the hills around them in silence.

After a few moments of them sitting and watching the sunrise, the old doors leading into their home slowly creaked opened to reveal their father. The brothers wiped around to face him as the short, ape-like man slowly strode towards them clad in his night robe.

He paused a few feet behind them and adjusted his robe. "Is it done?" he asked after a moment. Brick shrugged as he turned back around. "As far as my knowledge goes, yes it's done."

"Good." Mojo nodded. "I trust that meddlesome hunter will not be bothering us any longer, well done boys. Now all we need to worry about is John Utonium, but fear not – I will deal with him myself."

He eyed his sons coldly. "I think children, that it is best that you stay indoors for the next few moons. You have cause a fair amount of pandemonium in the town already, and they will be out searching for you three soon. We need to keep you safe."

"Oh joy." Butch muttered sarcastically, "We're getting locked back up again."

"Only for the next few moons until things calm down again." Mojo reassured his middle child. "Not forever."

"No offence pops, but I don't think that things are going to 'calm down' after this." Boomer mimicked him with a roll of his deep blue eyes. "Too much has happened in the last few months. This is only make people more scared."

"As long as those dirt-blooded peasants do not step out of line again, then I do not care." Mojo responded airily. The short man shuddered as a powerful gust of wind blew across the moor, forcing him to pull his robe tighter together.

"I am heading back inside." Mojo muttered around his accent, "these conditions are far too bitter for me." He eyed his sons disdainfully. "I think that it would be wise if you three came inside and cleaned yourselves up – that and you three should put on some actual clothes, you'll freeze to death out here."

"Aw pops, you never cared before." Butch interjected with a roll of his forest irises, only to fall silent as Brick glared warningly at him. "Sure dad." The intimidating man muttered, "whatever you say."

Mojo nodding approvingly at Brick as he shook his head disapprovingly at Butch. "Why can you not be more like your brother?" he asked turning away from the boys, ignoring Butch's angry snarl at the remark. The ape-like man wrinkled his nose as he turned around to head back inside. "Have either of you seen that dirty cretin Ace around? I do not think that he came home last night."

"Oh, don't worry dad… he'll turn up eventually." Boomer finally spoke up with a twisted smirk on his face. "You don't have to worry about him. We've got it under control."

Mojo nodded as he opened the door to the mansion back up again. "Good. Remember: I do not want him in these halls for an extended period of time. I want him gone as soon as he has outlived his purpose."

"With the way he's acting, he's going to be gone a lot sooner than you think." Butch muttered under his breath. Mojo stepped back inside the house and cast a look over his shoulder at his sons… at the monsters that he had raised.

"You would all do well to come inside soon and get cleaned up before Ace returns. I want the three of you to stick close to home for the next few moons. You have made enough of an example of the town for a while."

And with that, he shut the door behind him – leaving the boys out on the mansions front steps and alone with their thoughts.

* * *

 **Bellum Manor**

"Bubbles… Bubbles darling wake up."

Bubbles's baby blue eyes snapped open as she felt a gentle hand shaking her shoulder, only to find herself looking up into her mother's deep green eyes.

"Mum? What's going on?" She asked from around a yawn as she sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes. "It's morning sweetheart. I suppose you and your sisters fell asleep down here." Sara murmured gently, as she gestured to Buttercup – who had stretched out on the couch across from her, and to Blossom – who's lap Bubbles realized she had fallen asleep on.

"Oh, I suppose so." Bubbles said as she stretched out her back, sighing in pleasure as it let out a small _pop_ , before rising up off of the couch. "Is grandma out of her room?" she asked gently. Sara nodded as a sad look came over her face.

"Yes, we let her out this morning… I don't think she even noticed that we locked her in there… I didn't want to do that – to my own mother non-the less, but your father is right – she's been disappearing more and more these past few weeks, and I didn't want her going outside… especially not last night." The tall woman shuddered.

"No, that's understandable, it's just to keep her safe, right?" Bubbles supplied kindly, causing her mother to nod gratefully. "Exactly so my love." She murmured, "she's in the dining room now, not acknowledging anyone obviously… just staring out a window-" she shook her head. "Never you mind about her, I'll be keeping an eye on her today. Can you wake up your sisters? I need to help your father make breakfast – I don't trust your him to be in the kitchen alone for extended periods of time."

Bubbles giggled, as she thought about how her father had a knack for burning whatever he was trying to cook, and nodded as she slowly began to jostle Blossom's shoulder. "Of course! Blossom… Blossom… Come on Red, it's time to get up." She smiled, as the pretty red-head let out a feminine groan.

"Oh… Good morning Bubbly… Mum…" Blossom yawned as she was jostled to conscious. She glanced around the room with bleary eyes. "Did we fall asleep down here?" she muttered as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "You did dear, it's time to get up though, breakfast is almost ready." Sara informed her gently as she moved to exit the living room. "I'll leave you two to wake up Buttercup – I can never rouse her."

"Of course. We'll have her up in a few minutes."" Blossom confirmed as she ran her fingers through her hair. Sara nodded. "Good, I'll see you girls in a few minutes." The red clad woman was just about to leave the living room before her youngest daughter's sweet voice called her back.

"Oh mum? Bubbles asked. "About last night… have you heard anything… concerning those things…?" Bubbles stuttered and trailed off, noticing the solemn look that had passed over her mother's face.

"No. Nothing yet." The voluptuous woman responded tightly. "It was surprisingly quiet last night. One can hope that they didn't attack anyone last night… One can hope." And with that, she left the room without another word.

Blossom turned to her youngest sister with a quirked brow, and Bubbles shook her head in response. "I hope she's right – maybe those things didn't attack anyone last night. Papa said that the attacks didn't always happen every full moon after all." She supplied.

"One can dream…" Blossom muttered as she slowly stood up and moved over to where Buttercup was still passed out along the other couch. "Come help me wake BC, she's a dead sleeper."

The two sisters approached Buttercup, whose face was partly covered by her dark, raven hair. Bubbles knelt down by her sister's face as she closely examined her striking features. "She's got some dark bags under her eyes for the one who sleeps the best out of all of us." Bubbles noted as she gently traced the dark purple – almost black bags that were developing under her eyes.

"I noticed that last night too." Blossom admitted. She's been up late almost every night… I suppose that she's determined to read every single piece of literature on Werewolves…" She stroked her middle sister's shoulder gently. "Poor thing… she's really being hard on herself… she thinks that she's to blame for us getting bit…"

"She's not though, we told her that." Bubbles frowned. "There was nothing she could have done to stop those things from biting us."

"She knows that, but I don't think that she's willing to accept it." Blossom sighed. Reaching down she shook her sister roughly, knowing that it was the only way to rouse her from her almost coma-like state. "BC, come on, it's time to wake up, breakfast is almost ready… you need to get up-"

She was interrupted by Buttercup's hand suddenly smacking hers away before turning over on the couch so her back was to her sisters. "Go away." she mumbled. "Just give me a few more minutes." She pleaded, her voice muffled by the pillow her face was pressed against.

Blossom shook her head, despite knowing that Buttercup couldn't see her. "Sorry Butters, breakfast is almost ready, we always eat together, you know that." She gently chided. "I know… I know… I just had a really restless sleep." Buttercup groaned as she rolled onto her side. "I couldn't get comfortable last night… I kept thinking about where those things were last night… it bothers me, not knowing where they are." She admitted.

"Well maybe it's a good thing." Bubbles protested. "Maybe they were… resting?"

Buttercup shot the dainty blonde a withering look. "And miss their one chance to run free as a monster? After all of the deaths they've caused over the last couple of months, they've suddenly just decided to give it a break all of the sudden? No. That's not it. Somethings wrong." She muttered, sitting up and running a hand through her wild jet black locks.

She swung her legs over the side of the couch and stared down at the floor for a few seconds in silence before she quietly murmured, "I still wonder who it can be…who are the three who bare the curse? They have to be from the town, they have to be – it makes the most sense… but who?"

"I don't know." Blossom admitted. "There's still a lot of men remaining in the town… it could be any of them by default." She tapped a finger against her chin for a moment. "Brick is aware of my current predicament, perhaps we could utilize the boys and help up find out who it could be?" she supplied. "For now, I want to stay clear of the town for a while."

"I don't blame you." Buttercup muttered as she stood up abruptly. Her lime irises narrowed as the boys were mentioned. "But I think that we should avoid the boys for the time being as well."

"You're just saying that because Butch made the pseudo proposal to you-"

"No, I'm saying that until dad and Mitch go talk to Lord Mojo, we should avoid everyone for the time being." Buttercup snapped, interrupting Bubbles. "Until the whole town is on board with this fanatical idea – which is more than real, might I add – there are too many people running around unchecked. If they somehow manage to convince the towns people that the beasts are Lycan's, then they can help up look for them – and if I'm right, and it does turn out to be people from the town, the culprits will get rooted out eventually."

Blossom and Bubbles were silent as their sister explained her theory to them. "That actually dose make sense." Blossom admitted after a moment. "If the creatures are indeed people from the town, then they would be found out eventually. Until then everyone is a suspect."

"It sounds like you don't trust the boys though." Bubbles pointed out. "I don't." Buttercup confirmed as she popped her back, letting out a sigh of relief. " _Everyone_ is a suspect Bubbles, and they haven't exactly given us a reason to trust them. I feel as though they're holding a lot of things back from us, and that worries me slightly."

"But surly we can exclude some people from the list of suspects." Blossom argued. "There are some people who we know for certain who can't be the creatures."

She rolled her eyes as she relented. "The only people I know for sure that it couldn't be are Mitch, Princess and her father… which is a shame. I would love to see that annoying prat's head on a pike-"

"BUTTERCUP!"

"What? Don't tell me that you haven't dreamed of the same thing at some point or another."

Before Blossom could open her mouth to retort, a series of loud knocks sounded at the front door, causing her and her sisters to pause in the middle of their debate.

 _ **Knock, knock, knock.**_

"Who in hell's name could that be." Buttercup asked tensely. "Last time we got a knock on the door after a full moon, it was Mitch looking more dead than alive…"

"I don't know…." Blossom whispered back. "I don't want to open it."

"Maybe it's the mail?" Bubbles asked, trying and failing to stay optimistic, knowing deep down that it wasn't the mail at all.

The girls stayed silent as another round of knocks echoed thought he large house. This time, it seemed to gain the attention of their parents. "Girls?" their father called out from the kitchen. "Girls are you up yet?"

"Yes," Bubbles called back. "We are daddy."

"If you three are decent, could you be angels and open the door please, I can't leave the stove at the moment and your mother has her hands full."

"Sure… just give us a moment." Bubbles responded as she turned to face her older sisters. "Well… let's go see who it is. Remember, it could just be a traveler looking for directions." But judging from the unenthusiastic edge that had creeped into her voice, both Blossom and Buttercup could tell that she didn't believe what she was saying.

Slowly the girls made their way over to the foyer and stood in front of the door where the knocks where emanating from, neither of them wanting to see who or what was waiting for them on the other side. "Well Bubs, you can open it." Buttercup muttered softly. Bubbles stuck her tongue out at her raven-haired sister as she stepped forward to unlock the door and cracked it open slowly, only to open the door fully after seeing who was standing outside.

A young man who looked to be roughly in his early twenties, dressed in a police uniform was standing out on the front step. As he noticed the door opening, he took his cap off in greeting. "Good morning Miss. Utonium." He greeted her formally, bowing slightly at the waist.

"Oh, good morning officer, can I help you?" the thin blonde asked curiously, with a poorly disguised note of worry in her tone. If the young man standing before her heard it however, he didn't comment on it.

"I was hoping to speak with the master or mistress of the house – preferably master, is he home? The matter is quite urgent." The young officer informed the blue-eyed girl. Bubbles looked behind her at Blossom and Buttercup who nodded encouragingly at her. Bubbles nodded once at the officer before turning back to call back into the manor. "Mama, Papa, there's an officer at the door, he says that the matter is urgent."

There was a pause from inside the house before her father called back to her. "An officer? What does he need?" there was a brief pause before he called out. "I'll be there in just a moment, just let me turn the stove off."

A moment later both her mother and father appeared from the hallway leading to the kitchen. John whipped his hands on his pants nervously as he ushered the young officer into his home. "Good morning officer, is there something we can help you with?" he asked as he cast a nervous glance over at his wife and daughters who were standing behind him.

"Oh, actually sir, I'm here to speak to you directly." The officer muttered as he looked around at the female family members worriedly. "It's about Mitch Michelson – there's something that you need to hear-"

"Whatever needs to be said can be spoken in front of my family." John assured him firmly. "My daughters grew up with the boy here, and my middle daughter happens to be good friends with him. So if you need to tell me something that concerns him, then you may do so in front of them."

"V-very well…" The man muttered as he twiddled his fingers nervously – refusing to meet any of their eyes. Bubbles frowned slightly at the man's odd behavior – a clear indicator that something was seriously wrong.

Sure enough, her fears were confirmed as the officer looked up again and slowly started to speak.

"It's Mitch…" The young officer trailed off as a distant look entered his eyes. "He was found in the early morning hours by a group of men outside of the abandoned asylum. He had been attacked by those… _demons_ from the woods…"

"Oh god no…" Buttercup whispered a she held onto Blossom and Bubbles's hands in a death grip. "No, please no – not him, oh god please-"

"They managed to fend off the creatures and get him out of there." The officer pressed on, ignoring the panicked girl's cries. "But he… ah…" the boy swallowed thickly, "His arm had been torn off and he was bleeding out fast…" the boy paused again to take in the mortified looks from the family in front of him.

"Wait… _his arm had been torn off_?" Buttercup echoed hollowly with a small tremor in her voice that signaled to her sisters that she was close to tears. The boy nodded solemnly.

"They shipped him out to the nearest emergency hospital around these parts, and he's receiving intensive care now, but I'm not sure if the doctors are going to be able to reattach his arm or not. Apparently the bone had been completely mangled…"

"Just tell me if they can save him idiot!" Buttercup screeched as she nearly lunged at the young officer, only for her father to wrap his arms around her waist, holding her back. "That's my best friend! He can't die! Please just tell me he's going to be alright!"

The young man looked started at her sudden outburst, but quickly regained his composure, as he saw the worried looks that the rest of her family was sending him. He let out a tiny sigh, and after a moment he finally whispered:

"All I know is that he's in a coma, and that the doctors aren't sure if he's ever going to wake up."

* * *

 **Authors note:** _and so marks the beginning of the end._

 _When I said this story was going to take a hard turn in chapter 10, I wasn't joking. Things only get more complicated from here on out, and the story get progressively darker in the upcoming chapters._

 _I'm sure that many of you have guessed by now that the boys are not 'normal' Lycan's… oh no they are not… they are different now… the name of the game has changed again – only this time, it's going to cost THEM dearly…_

 _They aren't… the primal, feral beast's as they have been for basically all of the story up until this point. NOW they're more organized… they can think coherently… something that they were not able to do before, and they can "speak" to a degree... They can even change at will now. No more relying on the brief absence of the moon to revert back into a human form. They can now shift between the two forms at will… the nightmare has just begun._

 _And we are finally introduced the rest of the Ganggreen Gang and learn a bit on Butch's history with them… they are a damaged lot to say the least.. and Ace is truly a disgusting creature… just what is his plan bringing the gang to Townsville? Whatever it is, it's not good._

 _And now Kingston Morebucks has shown that he's got his OWN agenda that he's following. I wonder where his ambitions are going to take him… The boys will really have hell to pay for disrespecting his precious daughter… hell to pay indeed._

 _On a side note – I've actually been waiting close to a year to write this particular chapter. I've had this moment in mind ever since I came up with the idea back in March of 2016, so hopefully I have done it justice. I will say that this was a real treat to write, so hopefully you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed plotting it out._

 _I made this chapter a bit longer than normal, as I'm going to be taking a little breather from Lycan – it's not going on hiatus, but I have some other projects that I'd like to work on and I have exams next month that I need to study for – so I'd say that the next chapter will be out sometime early May. (after all, I've been working non-stop in this one chapter alone for a solid two months – I need to put out some new material XD)_

 _Once again, like always – I'd like to thank all of my readers for sticking with this story and putting up with my long, periodic breaks. You have no idea how much it means to me._

 _Also to all of the people that have reviewed for Lycan: thank you so much for all of your kind words of encouragement, it truly makes me happy to see that so many of you are enjoying this story._

 _Again, thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart – I'll see you again in Lycan Chapter 11: Secrets._

 _Stay amazing lovelies,_

 _Mrs. RoseGold_


	11. Secrets

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _The rating of this story is a High T for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned._

 _Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners._

 _The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages._

 _ **Hello everyone, as this was always the plan – the new chapter is here! Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**_

 _ ***Due to a particularly rude guest (who I am 99.9% sure has an actual account on Fanfiction) I am moderating guest reviews on my works for a certain amount of time. The review I received from said guest was rude, disrespectful and just uncalled for. I've left a more detailed description of what happened and what was said on my profile for those who are interested, because I'm not going to get into it here. It's really just a classic example of how all it takes is for one person to ruin something for everyone else. Once again, I'm very sorry to all of my guests who leave such wonderful, positive comments on Lycan – I'm dedicating this chapter to you as an apology. Thank you again**_

 _ **\- Mrs. RoseGold**_

 _ **(Also to the person who left the comment on Lords: I hope you see this, and if you haven't looked at my profile already, I want you to unfavorite any and all of my work – especially this one – and never leave a comment on my stories again. I WILL NOT be talked to in such a demeaning manor. If you have a problem with me or my articles – you log onto an account and talk to me that way – not by leaving a snide anonyms review, insulting me and my other stories. This update is NOT for you. It's for everyone else who was understanding, and waited patiently for the next chapter.**_ **Something you clearly cannot do** **.** _ **Good day.)**_

 _**Aussi à mon adorable critique français: Merci beaucoup pour vos aimables mots, mon cher! Je suis ravi d'entendre que vous appréciez Lycan, et merci de prendre le temps de laisser une belle critique sur mon histoire. Merci beaucoup!_

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Secrets**

Blossom fought to keep her grip steady on her sister's arm as Buttercup collapsed to the floor, nearly dragging her sisters with her.

"No…" the dark-haired girl croaked. "No… he… he can't be… I just saw him not to long ago. He was still recovering from the last full moon, but he was alright… Now you're telling me that he's gone?"

"Not gone miss." The young police man corrected quietly. "He's in an intensive care hospital a few miles away from Townsville, and there are several doctors attending to him as we speak, or so I was told. Those things managed to tear off his left arm, and from what I heard, the doctors don't think that they'll be able to reattach it… He's not dead, but it doesn't look like he's going to be getting up anytime soon… I'm sorry."

He paused for a moment before adding softly, "Because of the seriousness of his condition, we're opting to keep his current state privet from the rest of the town – aside from Mrs. Michelson, your family is the only one who knows about his current condition."

"You said he's in a coma?" Bubbles sniffed as she gently tried to hoist Buttercup up off of the floor with little success. The man nodded. "Yes. He lost a substantial amount of blood. He's lucky to even be alive."

"My god…" Sara murmured from beside John, "How did he even manage to make it back to town? The asylum is a good ways a way."

"He didn't ma'am, he was already unconscious when they found him." The police officer informed her, causing a range of confused looks to appear on the family's faces.

"They?" John asked, "Who's they?"

The young man at the door give him a half shrug. "Well, we didn't quite catch the other four's names, but we recognized one of the men who brought Mitch to us, and I believe you know him as well – it's the Jojo's new grounds keeper, Ace, I believe his name is."

"Him? Blossom frowned, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "What was he out so late? Surly he's heard of the were- I-I mean the beasts that have been running about." She corrected herself quickly, catching a panicked look from her father.

The police man averted his eyes from the auburn-haired beauty. "He… he didn't say." He muttered. "That's all I can tell you on the matter. We're still looking into it and collecting statements. As soon as we've figured out more on the matter, we will inform you immediately, but for now, this is all I can say."

"Well, thank you very much for letting us know." John told him sincerely as he helped pick Buttercup up from off the floor. "Will you let us know if… if Mitch gets any better?"

 _Or worse._ The older man thought darkly to himself, but didn't dare say it out loud as he gently passed Buttercup's limp form off to Blossom to help steady her.

The policeman nodded. "Of course, your family and Mrs. Michelson will be the first people we alert if anything with him changes." He looked down at his pocket watch with a small grimace. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the station and see if I can manage to get some statements out of the group of men who brought him in – provided that they're still there that is. I'll bid you good day, and for what it's worth: I am truly sorry."

And with that, the young man turned on his heel and made his way back to his waiting horse, as John closed the door. Turning around stiffly, he was met with the pale, sick looking faces of the rest of his family. Casting a concerned look at Buttercup, who was still limp in her sister's arms, be nodded towards the dining room.

"Right, girls? Bring your sister back to the dining room. I think that eating something might help her."

"M'not hungry." Buttercup mumbled, as she finally pushed herself off of Blossom to stand on her own. "See, I'm fine." She muttered as she wiped a hand across her eyes, in an attempt to get rid of the unsheathed tears within her blazing lime green irises. "I'm just a bit shaken up that's all. I'm okay."

"Well I need to eat something." John replied. "We all do, and breakfast is done anyways so we might as well eat."

"Truthfully, after hearing that, I'm not very hungry either." Bubbles sighed as she moved to stand with her raven-haired sister.

"Well then you and your sisters can sit at the table with your Grandmother then." Their father sighed as he rubbed at his temples. "Sara, if you don't mind, I think I need to have a word with you privately – If you don't mind – we'll join you girls in a few minutes."

Sara nodded and followed him down the hallway towards her father's former office. The girls watched as their parents disappear from sight, only to hear the door leading into the study close and lock behind them. A moment later, the girls heard muffled voices echoing from behind the closed door, but couldn't determine what their parents were talking about.

Blossom sighed. "Well girls, let's just go sit at the table and try to relax. We should also keep an eye on Grandma and make sure she hasn't taken off again."

"Sure, great." Buttercup muttered as she turned and walked stiffly back towards the dining area, leaving her sisters to follow behind her.

All three girls entered the dining room, where they found their elderly Grandmother still sitting at the table where they had left her before, mindlessly eating a piece of toast. Blossom forced Buttercup to sit next to the older woman along with Bubbles, before heading into the kitchen. The auburn sister reappeared moments later with three plates of eggs and toast. She placed one plate each in front of her sisters, before sitting down across from them with her own.

Buttercup started to protest before Blossom cut her off with a look. "Papa's right Buttercup, we all need to eat something – don't argue, just eat if for me. Please?"

Something about her tone made the slightly jaded look fall off the ebony haired woman's face, as she relented and poked at her eggs, causing a relieved look to pass over her face. "Thank you, Buttercup." The pale woman sighed as she began to dig into her own plate, prompting Bubbles to do the same.

The girls chewed their food quietly and a stiff silence settled over the room, only to be periodically broken by their Grandmother's absent-minded humming. Bubbles leaned back in her chair to peer past Buttercup and look at the tiny woman. "Is she alright?"

"I don't think she's here at the moment Bubbles." Buttercup mumbled around a piece of toast. "She's been spacing out a lot more lately."

"And worrying mama even more." Blossom added. "Once nanny comes back she'll be easier to look after but until then, we'll have to keep a close eye on her."

"Do you think that she'll ever go back to being her normal self?" Bubbles asked timidly. "I don't think so." Buttercup replied bitterly. She tried to ignore Bubbles's downcast face as she swallowed her mouthful of food before continuing. "I think she was going senile even before we got here, and when Grandpa died… I think that pushed her over the edge."

"I guess…" Bubbles mumbled as she sipped at her tea. The room lapsed back into silence for what seemed like hours, as the girls tried to come to grips with what the police officer had told them. Finally, Buttercup began to stab at the eggs on her plate more and more aggressive, muttering curses under her breath, until Blossom decided to cut in.

"Buttercup? Is there something that you would like to share?" she asked calmly, already knowing what her green-eyed sister was going to say.

"It's Mitch." She murmured as she poked at her remaining eggs. "I just really have no idea what to think… I mean… we just saw him a few days ago… he was _fine._ A bit torn up but fine… I just don't understand how he could be so careless…"

"He went out into the woods on a full moon despite knowing what exactly was out there." Blossom said softly as she turned her action to her plate. "I don't understand it either – I don't know what would possess him to go out into the woods knowing full well that there are Were-"

"Shhh!" Bubbles interrupted as she pointed to their Grandmother, who was still absentmindedly humming in her chair beside Buttercup. "She'll hear you!"

Buttercup snorted unkindly. "Please Bubbly, I don't think she can. Watch." She snapped her fingers in front of the older woman's face. "Oi, Gran, you here?" when she didn't get a response from the white-haired lady after a few moments, she shot Bubbles a look. "I don't think we have to worry about whether she hears us or not." Bubbles winced slightly and shot the small woman a pitying look, before nodding and redirecting her attention back on the topic of Mitch.

"Well, that still doesn't explain why Mitch was out last night." Blossom said as she sat back in her chair, tapping her fingers against her chin as she thought. "I'm just as baffled as anyone here – why was he so far away from town? Better yet, why was he found near an abandoned asylum?"

"What was he even doing out there in the first place?" Buttercup hissed as she stabbed at her eggs, causing the yoke to explode – sending a river of yellow goo down the side of her plate.

"He's fought those things once before already – and he was the one to finally convince dad that they're actually Werewolves in the first place! I know he's a good hunter, and I know that he wants to help – but he's not stupid enough to go out in the middle of the woods at night and take on those things _alone!"_

Maybe he wasn't alone though." Bubbles spoke up softly. Blossom and Buttercup turned to look at their youngest sister incredbolsly. "You… what?" Buttercup croaked, shocked.

Bubbles shrugged. "Maybe he wasn't alone when he went out there. It's like you said: He's smart, and he's already dealt with those things once before, so if it were me, I wouldn't be going out there unless I had some help."

"If that's the case, then who was with him?" Buttercup asked as she furrowed her brows – tying to think of people that would have willingly gone out into the woods with Mitch, despite knowing what was out there.

" _IF_ this is in fact what happened," Blossom cut in, "My best guess is that it would have to be someone that he trusts, or at least knows well enough."

"That could be anyone though!" Buttercup argued. "He lived in town when he was a kid too, he knows basically everyone here, so that doesn't help much at all!"

The sisters lapsed into silence as they thought about who in town would have gone into the woods willingly with him during a full moon. Suddenly Bubbles snapped her fingers.

"Remember when we went out into town with Boomer, Brick and Butch?" she asked, causing her sisters to nod slowly, "Well remember how we also happened to run into Mitch when we were getting ready to head home?" Again, her older sisters nodded. "Well, when the boys were talking to Mitch, I think that I overheard Brick mention that he and his brothers would be willing to help Mitch track down the beasts."

Blossom narrowed her rose colored orbs. "Are you sure about that Bubbles?" the blonde-haired girl nodded quickly, as she fixed her baby blue eyes on her pale sister.

"I definitely overheard them talk about tracking something in the woods." She said firmly. "I can't say what it was for sure, but let's be honest: what else could it be at this rate?"

Buttercup's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You think that maybe _they_ had something to do with this?"

Bubbles shook her head frantically. "Oh god no, I didn't say that! I hope they didn't! I just remembered that Brick Butch and Boomer had offered their assistance in finding the beasts when we ran into Mitch when we were out on that… date, with them. It just stuck out in my mind is all."

"She does bring up a good point." Blossom agreed. "They did offer to help him… maybe they know something- _Not saying that they're involved_ -" she added quickly, catching Buttercup's look, "But maybe they know something about what happened to him."

"If they do, when why haven't they said anything?" Buttercup growled dangerously. "There's a high likelyhood that Mitch could _die_ from his it turns out that those three know what happened to him and don't say anything, then I will hold them personally responsible… if he dies then I swear to god-"

"Let's not think about that." Blossom quickly interjected. "They managed to get him to a hospital just in time and that's all that matters. He's in a coma, not dead. Let's just hope that he manages to wake up soon and then tell us what happened himself."

She reached across the table to squeeze Buttercup lightly tanned hand in her pale one. "Besides, there's also a good chance that the Jojo's don't know anything. Just because they offered to help him, doesn't mean that they actually did."

Buttercup sucked in a breath and released it quietly, pulling her hand back from her sister's grasp. "You're right… it's just.. we've lost so many people who are close to us over the last couple of months. I don't want to lose him too…"

"You and him were very close as children, it's understandable." Blossom soothed her gently. "But that doesn't mean that we can go around accusing people of withholding information about what happened to him – we don't even know if that's the case yet."

"I know, I know." Buttercup sighed as she slumped in her chair. "But things still don't add up. He knew what was out there – so what was he doing so far away from town? It's not like him at all."

"Well, maybe someone tipped him off about the beasts? Maybe somebody knew where the beasts were hiding… or maybe they knew who the beasts are… that might have prompted Mitch to go out." Bubbles supplied.

"That's a possibility," Blossom agreed, "but who would know that? I doubt that anyone would be willing to confess to knowing that information – especially after news of what happed to Mitch gets around town."

"You're right." Buttercup spoke up quietly, causing Blossom and Bubbles to look at their middle sister. "No one in their right mind would confess to knowing that, and we won't get answers by asking around – look how well that happened the last time."

Blossom and Bubbles frowned as they thought back to the last time they had tried to get information out of the townspeople. It had been next to impossible to get any shred of information from them – the boys had been the same way.

"… Which is why we need to go straight to the source."

The girls looked at Buttercup confused. "What do you mean?" Bubbles asked, as she quirked blonde eyebrow at her older sister. Buttercup shrugged lightly as she sat back with an almost pleased smirk on her face.

"You said that you overheard the boys mention something about hunting to Mitch. I'll bet you anything that they know something. I'd also like to know what the hell Ace was doing in the middle of the woods in the dead of the night. Maybe the boys don't know how Mitch ended up in the shape he was found in – but they have to know why Ace was out that late." Buttercup pointed out.

Bubbles mulled it over for a minute before shooting a look at Blossom. "She's got a point – I'd kinda like to know what Ace was doing so far away from town – he's not a hunter like Mitch is…"

"But even if they know what's going on, the real question is would they tell us?" Blossom countered as she massaged her temples. "Buttercup, you of all people know how reluctant they are to tell us anything. You could hardly get anything out of Butch the first time you asked."

"But this time we have something on them." Buttercup pointed out slyly. Blossom raised an arched eyebrow, signaling for her to explain farther. Buttercup motioned between her and the rose eyed woman for a moment, before Blossom's eyes widened as she finally understood what her raven-haired sister was implying.

"Oh, god Buttercup no. You can't be serious. I thought you said that it didn't mean anything to you-"

"That was before I realized that I could use it to my advantage, and Blossom that applies doubly for you."

Bubbles's baby blue eyes widened as she finally caught on. "Oh, are you two going to try and use the proposals against them?"

"Not try, we _are."_ Buttercup corrected. "I'm sick and tired of being kept in the dark or being told things too late. Now Mitch is on death's door, and I'm not going to stand for it any longer. If I have to play Butch to get information then I will. If he wants his _future wife_ to stay safe, then he should be more than willing to tell me something – same applies for Brick."

Blossom fell silent as she considered the outcome. Buttercup sighed. "Blossom, two of our family members are dead, along with a god portion of the town, and the only person with any real sense around here – who also happens to be my best friend – is in a coma with a missing arm. Please do this… for me…"

Blossom sighed tiredly. "I… Alright… I'll see what I can get out of Brick, I can't make any promises though – It might turn out that they don't know anything."

Buttercup snorted. "Doubtful, but alright. We'll see what we can get out of them."

"Well good luck with that." Bubbles smiled wearily, "Hopefully they'll be able to tell us something-"

"Oh no, you're coming too." Buttercup in formed her light-haired sister. "Butch and Brick have proven to be tough nuts to crack, but Boomer? I feel like it might be easier to get something out of him. All you have to do is bat your eyelashes at him and he'll be putty in your hands."

Bubbles flushed. "I… I don't know about that… who even knows when we're going to see them again."

"Something tells me sooner than later." Blossom admitted. "Papa already had plans to meet with Sir. Mojo with Mitch to try and convince him that the beasts are actually-" she lowered her voice as she leaned forward, "Werewolves." She frowned sadly after a moment.

"I hope that papa manages to convince him – the sake of the town depends on it. and I hope to god that Sir. Mojo believes him… all he needs to do is look at Mitch for proof…"

Buttercup grimaced and looked away, not wanting to be reminded of the state that her childhood friend lay in. "Yeah." She hummed softly. "I hope that he does too. If not, dad will have to convince the townspeople himself. God forbid those things do the same thing to someone else-"

"Bad things always come in three."

The frail, distant voice of their Grandmother suddenly cut across their conversation. All three sisters turned to look at their frail Grandmother with wide eyes. "Come again Gran?" Buttercup murmured uneasily. "What did you just say?"

"Bad things always come in three." The old woman repeated in a mumble as she nibbled on her toast. She pointed to the window, out into the woods that surrounded the manor with a far off look in her clouded blue eyes.

"Bad things always come in three."

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

Ace heaved a sigh of relief as he made his way of the front stairs of the Jojo mansion, his feet dragging with every step he took.

After he and the rest of the gang had delivered the more dead-than-alive hunter to the authorizes, he and gang had hightailed it out of there – not wanting to be questioned on why they were bringing them a boy who had been brutally mauled, and missing an arm.

After passing the boy and his severed arm off, he had herded his gang back to the town's hotel, where he had them set up for the next several weeks until they were ready to proceed with the plan that he had in store. After he had made sure they were settled in, he had all but sprinted back to the estate – knowing that he was beyond curfew.

He had no doubt in his mind that the residents of the estate would be up by now, and would more than likely be wondering where the hell he was. The shade wearing man knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to sneak back into the mansion unnoticed and without being asked questions – what with his clothes being covered in splashes of blood.

He looked down at himself and cringed. _That fucking hunter kid had bled everywhere on him. There was no way these clothes were salvageable._

Pulling out his spare key from inside his trench coat pocket, he unlocked the front door and opened the door soundlessly before sticking his head in. He glanced around the main foyer for a minute before determining that there was no one around. _Good._ He thought to himself, _maybe I can just sneak in without anyone finding out._ Ace stepped into the foyer soundlessly as he turned around to shut the front door behind him, locking it tightly.

"Well you're a little bit late, aren't you?"

Ace almost couldn't stop the surprised shriek from leaving his mouth as he whirled around, only to come face to face with an irritated Brick Jojo, wearing only a simple shirt and dark sleeping pants.

The first thing that he noticed about the young man was that he looked awful – almost as if he hadn't slept at all the past night. His cropped red hair was disheveled and sticking up in multiple directions, and his crimson eyes had dark, almost black circles around them – indicating to Ace that his first assumption was indeed correct and that the boy hadn't slept at all.

But the thing that he found most interesting about the younger man's appearance was that, if he squinted – he could see splotchy dark marks on the skin that his shirt didn't cover. Giving him a quick once over, Ace could see that the bruising wasn't limited to only his arms – but also his upper chest and neck. Almost as if he had gotten into a fight with someone.

 _Got into a spat with one of your brothers last night Bricky?_ Ace thought to himself unkindly as he continued to look for more signs of bruising on the crimson eyed man. _Is it too much to hope that you offed one of 'em?_

He was so preoccupied with staring at the odd bruising that the tired looking boy was sporting, that he almost didn't realize that Brick was speaking to him until said boy snapped his fingers – bringing him out of his trance. Brick narrowed his eyes at the greasy haired man standing in front of him, before crossing his arms over his chest irritably.

"Where were you last night Ace?"

Ace fought the urge to roll his eyes behind his shades. "Good morning young master, nice to see you too – I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"Don't get smart with me Copular. I asked you a question and I want an answer: Where were you?"

Ace cringed slightly at the tone. _Shit the boy was pissed. He already knew what the middle brother was capable of when provoked into a violent rage – he didn't exactly want to see what the eldest Jojo could do._ "I was out and about, a few buddies of mine happened to be in town and I thought I would go say hello and catch up for a bit-"

"Buddies eh? Do I happen to know said buddies?"

Ace felt his heart drop into his stomach as the deep, threatening voice that belonged to the middle brother, echoed from farther down the hallway. Heavy footsteps walked down the main foyer until Butch's massive form appeared beside Brick's. The charcoal haired male crossed his arms – making his biceps appear even bigger – as he flashed Ace a cruel smirk.

"Because if it's the same friends that I think you're talking about… well I'd hate to miss out on a little reunion…"

 _Jesus Christ no. Not him._ Ace thought as he began to panic. _Butch could never know they were here… Not until they were ready to make their move, that is. He had done enough damage to them for the time being._

 _But soon they would get their revenge._

Ace narrowed his eyes at the brute of a man. "No. It's not them." He lied. "and shit what happened to you? You not sleep well last night either?"

Sure enough, just like Brick, Butch looked as if he hadn't slept at all.

Butch stiffened under his assessment and rubbed at his jaw, which Ace could see a decent sized bruise starting to form. "Rough night." He mumbled, his tone indicating that he wasn't going to say any more about the matter.

"I'll say." Ace snorted unwisely. "You both look like shit. What the hell were you boys up to last night? Did you get into some sort of fight with each other?" he smirked suggestively, "or were you doing something a little more illicit-"

Brick's searing red eyes bore into him, and the lanky man felt his throat close off and a shiver run though him under the intensity of the red, scorching gaze. Ace shuddered. _Those eyes weren't natural. People could say what they wanted about his own pink tinted sclera –_ that _was a genetic flaw that ran in his family – but red eyes? On a person who wasn't albino? No, that was wrong._

"What the hell happened to your clothes?"

Ace snapped himself out of his thoughts as he realized that Brick was speaking to him again. _How the hell could he have just noticed all the blood now?_ He thought to himself amazed. The greasy haired man sheepishly held up his red stained hands. "Shit boss man, you would not _believe_ the fucking night I had last night."

"Try me." Brick growled, crossing his arms.

"Oh man, where do I start with this one – okay, hand to god what I'm about to tell you is all true – I can't lie about this shit." He started off, as Brick merely raised an eyebrow.

"So, you know that one kid that the town called in to deal with the… whatever the hell those things are in the woods? Well I fucking ran into them last night."

Brick and Butch stilled at his words. Both men were silent for a moment before Brick nodded for him to continue. "Go on."

"Right so, my friends and me was out for a walk in the woods – nice night at all – and then we hear this _screaming_ right? So, my friends and I make our way thought the brush and we come across this clearing, right? And we see this big fucking building a few yards away and we was like: what the hell is this place? So we-"

"Can you get to the point Ace?" Brick barked gruffly as he massaged his temples. "What the hell were you doing at the Asylum?"

"Oh, so that's what it was." Ace mused. "We's couldn't figure it out."

"The asylum is a good bit away from the town… why were you out walking that far away in the first place?" Brick asked as he narrowed his eyes at him. Ace swallowed thickly as he tried to think of an excuse. For some reason, he didn't think it was a wise idea to tell his employers about the beautiful lady he had followed out into the woods.

"I ah, they wanted to see the woods and we found a path and followed it." he replied quickly as he waved his hand dismissively as both Brick and Butch narrowed their eyes at him.

"Don't matter, anyways, we hear this screaming coming from right in front of the building and low and behold we see this kid right? But he's not alone – he's got these three… actually, I don't know what they fuck they were…" Ace trailed off as he contemplated what the three creatures he had seen tearing into the young hunter were, only to continue on with his story when he heard Butch clear his throat – an indicator that the ink haired man was growing agitated.

"Anyways." Ace quickly pressed on. "We get closer, and realize that it's that hunter from the town – Mitch I think you said his name was right? and he's getting his innards ripped out of him by these… I don't know… massive wolves or something. His one arm is torn clean off and there's blood everywhere, and it's clear that this guy is close to death. Now because I am a _decent person,"_ the glare was directed at Butch. "I thought to myself, 'we have to save this guy'."

He glanced between the two brothers to make sure they were following him before continuing. "So, we start yelling at those things – hoping to take the attention off of the kid, and those things look up and…" Ace shuddered, "They… they weren't normal… you should've seen their faces… the blood dripping from their mouths… their teeth… they was as big as a damn grizzly, but they're faces were wrong, just wrong. Their eyes was almost… I dunno… human, I guess."

Brick and Butch cast a look at each other as Ace continued to ramble on about the beasts that he had encountered. Butch furrowed his brow and shook his head slowly, causing Brick to nod understandingly as he looked back at Ace.

"So… you're telling me that you witnessed Mitch Michelson getting mauled by three… monsters, is that what you're telling me Ace?" Brick clarified. "That still doesn't explain all the blood that's on you though." Butch added with a growl.

Ace waved him off. "I'm getting to that, believe me, this is where things get interesting." The pale man rubbed his hands together and lunched himself back into the story.

"So anyways, we was yelling that these things, trying to get their attention offa Mitch, and then the bastards start coming at us!" Ace exclaimed. "So I'm thinking to myself: shit, we's gonna end up in the same shape as poor Mitchy there, and wanted to get out of there, but I thought: there's no way we's gonna be able to outrun these things so-"

"Get to the point Ace!" Butch snapped as he began to drum his fingers on one of his crossed arms, clearly annoyed by how long the story was taking. Ace flinched but kept going.

"So these monsters look like they're about to charge us right? And we all kinda knew that they're no way we's gonna be able to outrun them… but…" He paused for a moment as he thought back to the odd behavior that the monsters had displayed.

"-But the weirdest fucking thing was that before those things could run at us, the sun came out and they… stopped. I don't know why, but they stopped." Ace continued to ramble on, not noticing the sinister looks that the brothers were exchanging. "Then they took off like hell on wheels – I dunno why, maybe they don't like sun or something – and then me and the boys managed to run the hunter kid back to town where apparently, they shipped him off to some sort of emergency care hospital outside of town, or something along those lines."

The lanky man shrugged uncaringly. "and that's the story about why I have so much blood on my clothes, true story, I swear to god."

"Riiiight." Brick drawled. "So these… monsters that you were mentioning, do you mean bears? They are native around these parts, and have been known to come out of the forest from time to time when they get hungry enough."

Ace shook his head, his greasy hair hanging limply around his face. "No, they were as _big_ as a bear, but they weren't a bear. Bears don't have jaws like a dog, or eyes like the ones that these things had for that matter."

Brick snorted. "Ace you probably saw some bears ripping into Mitch. Why they're out now I can't say, but they can get pretty savage if and when they are disturbed by someone."

"No boss these things ain't no bear! I think those are the things that everyone in their mother is terrified off around here!" Ace protested. Before either of the brothers could shoot the idea down, he launched himself into an explanation.

"I've never seen anything like those monsters before! They were as big as damn bears, but they didn't look like any bear I've ever seen before… The body and face were all wrong" Ace listed off quickly as he thought back to the fleeting glimpse he had gotten of the creatures before they had taken off. 'sides I've never heard of bears grouping together like that. But that don't matter – something is seriously wrong with whatever they are! I think they might have rabies or something."

"Well I think that any creature who is mauling a man to death has something wrong with them – thank you for your cleaver observation." Brick responded dryly.

"No you don't get it! I seriously think those are the things that everyone is so terrified around here! It all makes sense! Mitchy must have been out hunting them, and they got the jump on him somehow and tried to finish him off, only for me an' my boys to stop 'em" Ace said triumphantly.

Butch shot Brick a glare from the corner of his eye and the elder Jojo fought back a sigh. _Shit this wasn't good – it seemed like Ace had seen far too much for his own good. Worst part was what he seemed certain of what he saw – if he had been doubtful, he would have been able to convince him otherwise, but Ace didn't seem too keen on buying his bear excuse._

Brick looked back at Butch casually. _Just play along for now. Let him believe what he wants to believe – we'll take care of him with the time is right._ His look conveyed to his younger brother. Butch seemed to get the message as he nodded back, a bit unsurely.

"So you think you saw the… monsters that Mitch was called in to take care of?" Brick asked coolly, careful not to give anything away with his tone. Ace nodded, seemingly oblivious to what was going on. "That's exactly what I'm thinking, what else could they be? They definitely seemed like they could kill a ton of people without even breaking a sweat – you should have seen what they had done to that Mitch kid!"

"Interesting… and you said that he's still alive correct?" Brick asked as he watched Butch stiffen out of his peripherals. He bit back a snort at his brother's reaction to the news. _Oh yes Brick, he's definitely dead – I bit his arm off, didn't matter that I didn't see him die, he must have bled to death – well so much for that Butch._ The crimson eyed man mimicked with a snort.

Ace shrugged as he picked at some of the blood that was starting to harden on one of his coat sleeves. "Well… I mean, he _was_ when we brought him into town – just barely though. He was losing a lot of blood from the stump where his arm used to be, and the poor kid knocked himself into a coma just before we dropped him off to the medics. Apparently from what I overheard, the doctors aren't sure if he's ever going to wake up."

He looked at the brothers from overtop of his shades. "You two used to know 'im when you were younger didn't you? Sorry about what happened to 'im."

"It's fine." Butch muttered as he pressed his arms tightly against his chest, all while avoiding eye contact with the two other men. "Just glad to hear that he's… still drawing breath I guess." He grumbled lamely. Ace cocked an eyebrow at the strange behavior, but before he could comment on it, Brick spoke up. "Is there anything else you can tell us about either Mitch or the monsters you encountered?" Brick asked.

"I know that the Professor is looking into these creatures, and that he and my father are working together on the matter, so I'd imagine that he'll be paying our father another visit sometime soon – it would be nice to give him some useful information on the matter." The red eyed male continued, watching as Ace shifted uncomfortably under his assessment.

"Well… there is one other thing." Ace muttered as he looked down at his feet. "Right before they took off… One of them looked right at me and I think… I think it _spoke_ to me."

Brick and Butch shared a disbelieving look, before Butch chuckled. "What kind of substances are you taking right now?"

Ace felt his mouth drop open. "You don't believe me!"

"Of course not." Brick snapped as he scratched at his chest. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, I have to draw the line somewhere with this insane story. Talking beasts… what's next? Flying pigs?"

"No I swear, this thing said my name! I can't make this shit up! I've been sober since they threw me in the damn penitentiary. Those things are the real deal!" Ace protested.

Brick snorted, amused with the tale. "Last time I checked animals – even ones that are so called 'monsters' – can't talk. If you're going to show up well past curfew, you might want to think of a better excuse."

"I told you, I ran into those beasties – fuck I would've rather been here, but my friends and I had to take the hunter back into town before he died! I couldn't just leave the fucking kid to bleed out into the snow – where else do you think all this blood came from?" he asked as he gestured to himself.

"Some unfortunate victim you ran into." Butch supplied without missing a beat. "I know you've got a history for slicing up people who rub you the wrong way." Ace only sneered at the powerful man. "Very funny Butchie, but I could say the same thing about you-"

"You better shut that damn mouth of yours before I shut it for you." Butch snarled, as he took a threatening step forwards towards the lanky, blood splattered man, only to get held back by Brick, who shook his head at his brother, before redirecting his attention back to Ace.

"Despite your… heroic's – you still disobeyed the curfew that was put in place. If it happens again, we won't hesitate to send you straight back to that hellhole penitentiary that you called home for the last four years or so." Brick threatened, grinning to himself as he watched the colour in Ace's face drain. He forced the sick smile back down and cleared his throat before addressing the pale man again.

"But lucky for you, I believe in second chances – so I'm going to let you off easy this time. You're going to clean our family crypt as punishment for ignoring curfew – no one's been in there for a while and I think that it could use a good cleaning." This time, he didn't hold back the grin that spread across his lips as he watched Ace's mouth drop open.

"You can't be serious."

"I am. Very serious in fact. I don't even want to think about how much dust is in there."

"I just got back from dropping that bleeding hunter guy off in town, had a run-in with those monsters that everyone's been going on about – and now you expect me to clean your damn crypt? I don't think so, look at me for Christ sake! I'm still covered in blood!"

Brick's red eyes flashed sinisterly and Ace instantly fell silent, his throat drying up as the muscular redhead stiffly made his way over to him. He stopped less than a foot away from the shade wearing man and glowered at him before muttering:

"I don't really give a damn if you're covered in blood or if you nearly got your head ripped off by those things in the woods. If I tell you to do something then you do it. I don't care how long it takes you to clean up that crypt, but you're going to stay there until it's done. Am I understood?"

"But-"

"You're dismissed Copular." Brick growled. "If you don't get out of my sight in the next two seconds, I'll find something else for you to do on top of cleaning the crypt"

The shade wearing man sighed as he gave the brothers a slight bow, before turning on his heel and taking off to the part of the mansion that led out to the outside terrace, near where the Jojo family crypt was located, muttering profanities under his breath the whole way.

Brick and Butch watched him go with narrowed eyes. Once they were sure that he was gone, Brick popped his neck ominously, and without taking his eyes off of where Ace had disappeared to, he murmured: "He's starting to ask too many questions."

"Yes, yes he is." Butch agreed with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"You know we'll have to kill him soon at this rate."

"Obviously – that's why I brought him here in the first place. He's expendable… and I hate him. Kill two birds with one stone."

Brick snorted at his raven-haired brothers reasoning, before he sobered up with a stern frown. "and of course we have another problem now: Mitch is still alive." Butch simply chuckled disbelievingly, "I can't believe it… half mauled, missing an arm and he's _still_ alive… I gotta hand it to him, he's a resilient fucker."

"Yes _but he's still alive_." Brick repeated, only for Butch to pat him on the shoulder. "For now… you heard what Ace said: he was in pretty bad shape, and there's a good chance that he won't make it."

Brick sighed and scratched at his chin. "Well then let's hope he stays in critical condition then. If not – well… We're going to have to get to him before he says anything." He was quiet for a moment before he turned to Butch.

"So… those friends of Ace's, are they the part of the same gang that you dealt with before?"

"Without a doubt." Butch replied instantly. "I wasn't sure before because I didn't get a good look at them, but you saw how scared he got when I asked – it's definitely them."

Brick hummed, "Interesting. Still doesn't tell us why he was out so far away from town last night though – I don't buy his bullshit excuse for a second."

"I'd be more concerned about the rest of the gang." Butch muttered as he raked a hand though his thick, black mane. "They're around here somewhere. I have no idea what Ace is up to, but if he's called the whole gang here, then it's for something big. I don't like it."

"We'll have to keep a very close eye on him for the next little bit and see what he does." Brick agreed. "I'd have you do it, but then he's probably expecting that. Boomer's always been more subtle then you or I – I'll have him keep an eye on him for the next week or so – but for now, he's going to be too busy cleaning out that crypt to be able to go anywhere."

The brothers lapsed into silence as they continued to stare down the hall where Ace had disappeared down, nether moving, until Butch gently nudged Brick from behind. "How's your shoulder and chest?"

Brick winced as he stiffly moved his shoulder where Mitch had stabbed him, before peering down his shirt, only to cringe at the massive burn mark that was forming in the center of his chest from the silver. "Fine I guess. It burns but I'll live – the shoulder is going to take longer to repair itself – fucker just _had_ to nail me in the same spot that he did last time." He grumbled sourly. "What about you? How are you holding up?"

"Fine. He didn't get the chance to throw silver at me. I feel like I'm in the best condition out of all of us." Butch replied. Brick hummed in agreement as he bitterly rubbed at his chest. Butch was quiet for a moment before he nodded his head in the direction that Ace had gone.

"So do tell, why are you getting him to clean up the crypt?" Butch asked, cocking a dark brow at his irritated older sibling.

"Because you heard dad: we have to lay low for the next few moons, and that means we're getting locked back up in the crypt again, just like we were when we were teens." Brick snapped back, watching as Butch's face darkened at the mention at their years of imprisonment.

"and if we have to get locked back up in that place again – I want it to be completely spotless." Brick finished with a huff, his lip curled slightly. "Also, I want to make him suffer for giving me lip."

"I don't get why he wants to lock us up in that place. We're not exactly the mindless beasts we were before… even if he doesn't know that yet…" Butch growled under his breath irritably.

"Because it's the last place where people will look if they decide they want to go searching for us." Brick sighed. "And I'm sure that at least one or two people will try… some people never learn."

"Are we ever going to tell him about… you know." Butch made a circle in the air with his fingers. Brick laughed, and Butch swore that he saw his brother's red irises flash black for a moment, before returning to their normal red.

"I think we'll let him figure that one out on his own." Brick chuckled darkly. "There are so many things about us that he doesn't know, it's almost comical."

"Yeah, like the real reason he was given us."

Brick stopped chuckling immediately and turned to give Butch a sharp glare. "Yes, well, he should have known that there would be certain drawbacks in playing God and making deals with the devil in order to do so. He'll reap what he sows soon enough – he knows that much at least."

"and the rest of the town?"

"Will suffer alongside him. Those miserable creatures deserve nothing less – besides, we're so close to accomplishing our mission here – what's a few more moons of waiting?"

"I'm pretty sure that dad knows about that Brick, how could he not? _**He**_ supposedly made that pretty clear when _**he**_ gave him us."

"Oh definitely. But I don't think that he cares. If he did, then he wouldn't have let us live past the age of eleven." Brick agreed with the hint of a smirk. "He wants to be hailed as a God of sorts. Too bad that's not going to happen."

"You know Boomer still isn't alright with this." Butch informed his older sibling as he crossed his arms over his barrel chest.

"Boomer doesn't have a fucking choice. This is what we were born for – we can't go against that." Brick sighed as he rubbed at his temples with one hand. "He just has to accept that. Besides, after our little 'pow-wow' in the basement – there's no going back – we're in it until the end."

"I think he's more concerned about what the girls are going to think of us." Butch muttered softly as he glanced up the massive staircase that led up to their bedrooms where Boomer was currently sleeping. "He's afraid that they'll hate us."

"They'll… they'll learn to accept it in time." Brick finally said after a pause, though he sounded uncertain. "Are you saying that because you know, or are you trying to convince yourself?" Butch asked in a low rumble.

"They'll accept it in time – we'll break it to them gently – just like we will about our current condition… We'll worry about that closer to the date…"

"It's probably going to be a lot sooner than that." Butch mumbled. "You know they've been looking desperately for answers… I wonder what their father's told them…"

"They'll find out when we're ready to tell them." Brick snapped. "Again, we'll do it gradually… so they don't have to take all of it in all at once."

"But will they really accept it?" Butch muttered as he glanced wearily at the front door.

"They'll have to, we're not giving them another alternative. They came back to us almost by coincidence and we're not going to let them go that easily, because let's face it: you and I both know that they're never leaving here again." Brick growled.

"and you're alright with that?" Butch questioned. "Are you going to let Buttercup go?" Brick fired back, watching as Butch's darkened to an inky black. "No." he answered curtly as the muscles in his jaw twitched.

"Though not." Brick grumbled, "Besides, they'll be safe with us… they were promised to us after all, we'll keep them safe from whatever comes."

"Brick-"

"I'm not going to talk about it anymore." The crimson eyed man shut the brutal male down. Glancing up the stairs he nodded towards them. "Go wake Boomer's ass up – we need to get him caught up on our Ace issue." Butch opened his mouth to protest, however the look his older brother shot him told him that he was leaving no room for arguing.

Butch slowly made his way up the stairs, only to turn around halfway up to face his weary looking brother. "You know Brick, we are going to have to talk about this at some point. We don't have much time left."

Brick only snorted as he slowly made his way towards the living room. "Trust me Butch, I know. Time is one thing that has never been on our side."

* * *

 **Bellum Manor – three days later**

The girls sat in the manor's living room quietly – each focusing on a different activity.

Blossom had decided to pick up playing piano again, and was currently seated at the glossy black piano, playing a gentle melody on the polished keys – not wanting to disturb her sisters from what they were doing.

Bubbles on the other hand was absentmindedly playing a game of chess with herself – claiming that it helped her concentration, and that she wanted to beat Blossom the next time they played – but both of her sisters knew that the normally bubbly blond was desperately trying not to think about the horrific news that they had received earlier in the week.

Buttercup had barely said a word to anyone since the news about Mitch, and had instead, buried herself in the books she had read about Lycan's and other legends that were associated with the town – something that she normally did not do.

Usually, if she was stressed about anything, she would take her mind off of it by exerting herself physically with a solo game of soccer in the privacy of her fenced-in backyard in Citysville – away from prying eyes – however the severity of their situation had not put her in the mood to find a ball and play like she would normally. No, finding answers was far more important than her love of sports.

She flipped idly through the pages of her current book, all while listening to the soft chime of piano keys in the background. Normally the sound of Blossom playing had a relaxing effect on her, but it was currently doing nothing for her nerves. All she could think about was Mitch.

With a barely audible sigh, she shut her book and set it on her lap as she tried to recall what she had read. She had barely been able to concentrate on what the book's material was about while she was reading it, and shut her eyes momentarily as she tried to remember what it was that she had read on the tomes pages. When it didn't come to her, she let out an irritated snarl and flipped back to the page she was on – intent on reading it all again.

The sound of her sister's frustrated sigh made Bubbles pause from her solitary game of chess, and look up at her. She watched as Buttercup silently fume to herself as she aggressively flicked through book before settling on a page, and began to mutter angrily to herself as she skimmed through the text again. She sighed as she watched her raven-haired sibling infuriate herself further, before putting the chess pieces away, and stood up from her spot at the table so she could move towards the couch that Buttercup was occupying.

She placed a gentle hand on her shoulder – causing the darker girl to flinch at the contact, and whirled around to face her – an almost blank look written on her face. "Can I help you?" Bubbles shook her head. "You've been on edge today… more so than usual always." She stated nonchalantly as Buttercup opened her mouth to protest. "Your muttering to a book that can't respond to you, so I know that something is irking you."

At that, the soft sounds of the piano stopped as Blossom turned around on the bench to face her younger siblings. "Bubbles has a point." The elder Utonium pointed out gently as Buttercup scowled at her. "That and you never read when you're in a mood – not that I mind the change," she added quickly, "It's just, whenever you're stressed about something, you're usually kicking a ball around, and I haven't seen you do that yet."

Buttercup grumbled to herself as she sat up straight on the couch and tossed the book she had been trying to re-read to the side, as she put her head in her hands, running her fingers through her thick dark mane. "I'm a little too preoccupied to find a ball right now." She admitted. "I'm more concerned about finding out answers to what the hell those things are and what they want with you two."

"and you think the answers lie in there?" Blossom asked as nodded at the book that Buttercup had tossed aside. She stood up from the bench and picked the book up gently from its spot on the couch. Studying the cover, she opened it and flipped through a few pages. " _Tales of Mythological Beasts and Lore",_ where did you even find this?"

"It was mixed in with the miscellaneous novels in here." Buttercup shrugged uncaringly as she gestured to the wall of books on the other side of the room. "It's the only one I could find pertaining to… Well… Werewolves and the like. Figured it would be a good as place as any to start there and see what I could find."

"You don't say." Blossom muttered as she skimmed through the pages. "I don't suppose this is where you found that rhyme is it?"

"Page two hundred and eight." Buttercup responded automatically as she leaned back into the couch. "The whole chapter is dedicated to Lycan's. it compiles a bunch of different lore's surrounding them… It's helpful… somewhat, but it's also incredibly cryptic and vague. It doesn't go into detail and explain any of the lore behind the stories or how they came to be, so it's anyone's guess as to what's supposedly real and what's not."

"I see." Blossom relied distractedly as she came across an illustration of a massive bipedal wolf depowering a horrified man. She delicately traced the picture before shuddering and turning the page.

 _Those wolfish features… the massive teeth… the claws… those_ eyes _… those eyes burned into her very soul. They were red… so red… red like blood…_

Blossom closed the book and set it down next to Buttercup on the couch. Any doubts that she had had previously about what the creatures were had been eliminated. She now had no doubts in her mind: _Those were the same creatures that at stalked her and her sisters that night in the woods._

 _The same beast that had pinned her down and had sunk its teeth into her-_

She shook her head frantically and crossed her arms across her chest so her sister couldn't see her hands shake. She couldn't think about that. She had to be strong for her sisters. They had to get to the bottom of how to stop those things and what they wanted with them.

Buttercup looked up at her older sister, and observed her as she chewed the inside of her cheek. "Blossom, are you alright?"

"Fine, just thinking." The auburn-haired girl replied distractedly. "… those things… they are not natural creatures… Did the book say anything about… well, the curse they have? Or what hurts them?"

Buttercup shrugged. "Aside from the one that we're all familiar with? The one about the bites turning you into a werewolf? No – that's the only one I could find that was associated with them. However, some of the legends that I read about in there mentioned that silver burns them. Something about the similar qualities of the moon reflected in the silver that burns them, or something of the like."

"Truthfully, I'm still worried that Blossom and I are going to turn into… you know." Bubbles whimpered as she clutched at her healed arm, before her eyes widened in horror. "Oh god, what if Mitch turns into one? He got bitten so many times! What if he turns into one while he's still in the hospital, and they kill him!?"

"I don't know if the legend about the bites turning you into a werewolf is true or not." Buttercup finally sighed. "I mean, you two didn't turn into werewolves and that was more than a month ago." She glanced out the window, "I don't think we have to worry about Mitch turning into one… providing that he actually makes it to next month."

She hung her head, almost as if it weighed too much for her neck to support. Bubbles gaze softened as she took in the sight of her normally hard-headed sister looking so worn out. She gently reached out and cupped her sister head in her hands, cradling it softly, as she made the lime eyed girl look her in the eye.

"He will Butters, have faith. He's strong. If he could survive the initial attack then he can pull though this. He's got the best doctors around these parts looking after him. He'll make it, you'll see."

Buttercup shot the blonde girl a weak smile. "I know, thanks Bubbles." Something in the dark-haired girls lime eyes hardened, as she shifted her gaze away from Bubbles. The blonde frowned and tried to meet her eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly. "You can talk to us Buttercup, we're all in the same situation – there's no need to hide anything. If something is bothering you, you can tell us. We're in no position to judge."

Buttercup flicked her gaze towards Bubbles and saw the sincerity in her sister's eyes. The blonde shot her an encouraging smile and Blossom gently squeezed her shoulder. "Let us in Buttercup." She murmured firmly. "It's not healthy to keep all of it bottled up." That seemed to be all the encouragement the girl needed before she let out a defeated sigh.

"I don't know Bubs… it's just that nothing makes sense anymore… everything we think we know is wrong. We have more questions then we have answers and I-" she paused, before letting her head fall again. "I'm just so lost… I want to find answers for us, but it's proving next to impossible. I don't even know where to start…"

Her eyes became flinty as she stopped herself. "Actually, yes I do." She looked up at her sisters and both girls looked at each other briefly before sighing in sync. "The boys?" Bubbles asked her, but it sounded closer to a statement then an actual question. Buttercup nodded, confirming what both girls were thinking.

"Exactly. They _have_ to know something. It's unlikely that they don't. How could they not? Bubbles, you overheard them mentioning that they wanted to help Mitch track down the Lycan's – they have to know something about where those things are hiding!"

"I mean… maybe." Bubbles shrugged helplessly. "I'm pretty sure I overheard them saying something about helping Mitch hunt them down – but say that you're right, and the boys _do_ actually know where they're hiding… it makes me wonder what else do they know-"

The sound of someone hitting the door knocker against the front door ricocheted through the house, and made her stiffen where she was standing. "Oh, now who could that be?" She muttered as she slowly turned in the direction of the hallway, twisting the ends of her hair worriedly. "… I don't want to answer it." she whispered, as the sound of their father's footsteps echoed throughout the house – more than likely heading for the door. "The last two times were bad enough…"

Blossom nodded tensely before moving towards the door. "We should still see who it is – it could be important." She tacked on as she noticed her sister's hesitant expressions. Bubbles cast a look between her and Buttercup before nodding in defeat and shuffled towards Blossom, who nodded encouraging, before looking expectantly at Buttercup, who took it as her cue to rise off of the couch.

Buttercup nudged them towards the hallway. "Go, I'm going to put this away so that dad doesn't find it." she gestured to the heavy tome beside her. "I'll catch up with you two in a second." Blossom nodded as she took Bubbles by the hand. "Alright, come on then Bubbles – let's see who it is this time."

"Not another policeman I hope, or a half-dead boy." Bubbles muttered as she allowed Blossom to escort her out of the living room, leaving Buttercup behind to put away the book she was reading. Blossom winced at the blonde girl's statement and shook her head. "Something tells me it won't be the case this time." She looked at Bubbles with a tiny frown adorning her lips, and gave the blue-eyed girls thin wrist a gentle squeeze, catching her attention.

"What you were saying back there… about the boys possibly withholding information on where the beast's whereabouts are… was there something else that you wanted to say?" she asked as she lead them towards the front door.

Bubbles looked unsure as she and Blossom headed to the front door. "All I'm saying is that, if the boys know things about the Lycan's, and they haven't disclosed that information yet, doesn't that make them… I don't know… suspicious to a degree? It just makes me nervous… I don't know if I'd be up for seeing them again so soon if that ends up being the case." She admitted softly. "I'd _like_ to see Boomer, don't get me wrong – but what if Buttercup's suspicions are correct and they _were_ somehow involved in what happened to Mitch?"

She brought a hand up to trace the hidden bite mark underneath the sleeve of her dress. "I just don't know if I could be around someone who was possibly partially involved, or at least knew of information that could have prevented an attack of that caliber."

Blossom shrugged as she guested behind them where Buttercup had re-appeared, and was now trailing slightly behind them. "I don't know Bubbles, but Buttercup does bring up a good point – right now, they're our best shot at getting some form of answers." She reluctantly admitted. "Because I won't lie, I'm getting sick and tired of everyone withholding things from us. We have a right to know what's really going on around here."

Bubbles nodded finally as all three girls entered the foyer, only to see their father ushering in a burly man, clad in an expensive white suit and a fur coat – who they immediately recognized as Kingston Morbucks.

"Ah Kingston! What a surprise, I wasn't expecting to see you today, how are you? What can I do for you?" the girls heard they father ask, as he ushered his patron into the house and out of the biting cold outside.

"Well John, I was just taking a stroll around town, and was overseeing the work that was being done on that property I purchased on the other half of town, and I thought that I would drop in and see how you and your family was doing." The larger man rumbled as he kicked some of the excess snow off his boots, before looking around him and noticing the girls standing behind him.

"Ah hello girls! Hope you don't mind me dropping in uninvited, do you?" he asked as Blossom shook her head, giving him a polite curtsy. "Not at all Mr. Morbucks. We're honored to have you in our home." Kingston nodded, pleased with the response, as he jerked his thumb at her while addressing John. "I've always liked her, she's always had the best manners out of any young lady her age that I've met."

"Yeah, Princess could do to learn a thing or two from you." Buttercup muttered behind Blossom, causing her to elbow her sister in the ribs as Kingston looked over at them again. "Ah there you are Buttercup, I didn't see you back there, did you say something?"

"No sir, nothing." Buttercup quickly responded as she flashed him the fakest looking smile that Blossom and Bubbles had ever seen, only to roll her eyes sarcastically as Kingston redirected his attention back to John.

"Speaking of, how is the construction on that manor that you purchased going?" John asked politely. "Slower than I would like, however it is the winter season and I will admit that the conditions here are for worse than they are back home in Citysville." Kingston admitted. "That and it doesn't help the fact that the manor was quite decrepit. It looks like no one's lived in it for a very long time." He mused as he stroked his beard.

"If you're referring to the one on the North side then no – that manor's been sitting empty for years. It was abandoned back when the girls were first born, and I don't think that anyone has lived there since." John informed him. "But good for you for cleaning it up – it was a beautiful property, and I'd like to see it restored back to its former glory."

Kingston nodded good-naturedly. "Yes, it will look much more desirable once it's fixed. I think it will make a fine summer home for me and my family. Living in the city can be so stressful sometimes, you know John?"

"Fantastic, I suppose we'll be seeing Princess around here a lot more often if that's the case then, huh Blossom?" Bubbles whispered into her ear, as the rose eyed girl winced, but said nothing in response.

"-Actually John there was a reason that I came here today." Kingston said abruptly as he snapped his fingers, causing John to raise an eyebrow. "Oh? Well then by all means, what can I help you with?"

"Lord Mojo." The red bearded man said curtly. "As you know, I've been meaning to meet with him for a little while now – ever since you mentioned to me that he was your former lab partner, actually." His rounded face darkened for the briefest of moments, catching the girls by surprise. "I heard that my darling Prinny didn't have a very good time when she went up there last time with you and miss Blossom."

"Oh… yes… Princess mentioned that something had happened on the way back…" John muttered. "I wasn't quite sure what exactly had transpired though-"

"Well according to my Prinny, one of Mojo's sons insulted her, or something of the like." Kingston informed him gruffly. "Simply unacceptable behavior from a lord of his status I say. I'd like to talk to his father concerning an apology if you don't mind."

"She probably deserved it." Bubbles muttered lowly in Blossoms ear, as the ginger haired girl stiffed a tiny snort in agreement.

"Well, I agree, it was out of line for him to do that." John nodded slowly as he brought out his pipe and lit it – a nervous habit he had developed when he was put on the spot. "I suppose the next time I go up to see him I could mention to him that you want to have an audience with him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind much-"

"Why don't we all take a little trip up there to this estate of theirs?" Kingston supplied, a little too cheerfully. "I'm sure that your daughters wouldn't mind getting out of the house for a few hours, and I've got nothing better to do today. I'm rather interested in paying this elusive man a visit myself."

Blossom and Bubbles visually paled at the suggestion.

"O-oh… do you mean today at some point?" Bubbles laughed nervously as she began to twist the ends of her hair again. "I don't know Mr. Morbucks, I don't really think my sisters and I are exactly… wanting to go up there today-"

"Actually, I think that a trip to the mansion would be a good idea."

Blossom and Bubbles both whirled around to look behind them at Buttercup in astonishment. "Are you feeling alight Buttercup?" Blossom finally managed to choke out, only for Buttercup to raise a dark brow at her in response. "Perfectly fine Bloss. I mean it – I think a trip up there is a good idea. Kingston is right: it'll get us out of the house for a bit."

"But you don't even like going up there because of the boy-" Bubbles started to protest, only for Buttercup to shoot her a sharp glare that caused the words to die on her tongue.

"Normally yes, but I think that they might have _something for us."_ Buttercup flicked her eyes towards the concealed bite on Bubbles's upper arm. The golden-haired girl followed her sister's gaze to her arm before looking back at her older sister with a small amount of panic in her sky blue eyes.

" _What are you doing?"_ she mouthed as she shuffled slightly closer to the ebony haired girl, so that their shoulders were brushing. "We're getting answers _,_ and the boys have them _."_ Buttercup muttered lowly back before looking over at Blossom, seeking confirmation. After a moment of hesitation, the rose orbed woman slowly nodded – silently agreeing to go along with whatever Buttercup was planning.

Bubbles hesitantly looked over at her lime eyed sister before turning back around to look give their father a weak smile. "I think Buttercup has a point papa. It would be nice to leave the house for a little while… it might take our minds off of… what happened to Mitch…"

John shot his youngest daughter a surprised look. "Are you sure darling? A minute ago you seemed opposed to the idea-"

"What's this I hear about Mitch? That's the young lad whose job is hunting big game correct?"

The girls and John turned towards Kingston who had raised an eyebrow expectantly. John sighed and ran a hand though his slightly disheveled black mane. "That would be him yes."

"You'll have to forgive me John, it would appear that I'm slightly out of the loop on this matter, what exactly happened to him?"

John stiffened. He still hadn't told his employer about the horrors that were happening to the small farming town and its inhabitants. Casting a fleeting look at his daughters, he quickly made up his mind that he would have to let the large, red-bearded man in on the madness.

"Well, you see Kingston-" he began nervously, unsure of how his employer would react to what he was about to tell him. "The reason why my family and I came back to Townsville in the first place was because of my brother's murder, but after we arrived… I found out the nature of his death and how he died…" John's face became somber as he looked Kingston in the eye. "This may seem farfetched or hard to believe, but there is something lurking in the woods around Townsville that is responsible for my brother's death, not to mention quite a few others too."

"Oh I already know that there's something causing mischief around this town." Kingston waved away the salt and pepper haired man's meek explanation away. "I've read the papers, I could figure that much out for myself. The murders that this town has seen are quite… gruesome. The question is _what are they_?" He swept his dark gaze over John's lanky form. "You're the smartest man of them all John, I would imagine that you must have some sort of idea about what they are by now."

John paused as he considered whether or not to tell Kingston about the Lycan's. He knew that he would have to hell his business partner about them eventually, but he had been hoping to tell him when Mitch was with him – so that the young man could act as a witness who could back up his wild claims.

John sighed. Kingston was bound to find out eventually anyways. If he was going to tell the large man the truth, he wanted to do it in the privacy of his own home – away from listening ear – that way no one would be able to call him a lunatic. After all – he was well aware of how insane his explanation was going to sound to an outsider like Kingston. The only bright side was that at least his daughters were here with him, and they already knew the terrible truth. Since Mitch was unable to help him explain the truth, maybe his daughters could persuade the red-bearded man if he didn't believe him.

"I… Well, yes, you could say that." The old scientist muttered. "I started to compile evidence after I saw my brother's body. The wounds that the creature- or should I say _creatures_ inflected on him, were unlike any normal animal that was common around these parts. The wounds were unlike any animal attack that I've ever seen before – canine in appearance and shape, but far too large to be a regular wolf – and yet too sharp and deep to belong to a bear."

"My word John, these beasts sound monstrous." Kingston muttered as he adjusted the fur cape around his shoulders. "Perhaps we shouldn't discuss the matter around these lovely young ladies-"

"It's quite alright Kingston, they already know." John said, as he cast his daughters a sad look, as he puffed on his pipe. "I couldn't keep it from them forever. They deserved to know… actually it was Mitch himself who finally convinced me to tell them." He let out a groan. "All the more reason why I wanted him with me when I finally told Mojo – one could say that he's the 'expert' on what these things are."

"Well what exactly are they?" Kingston asked as he stroked his beard. "I could gather from what I've read in the newspapers that they… well... aren't exactly your regular animal, so what are they?"

John sucked in deeply on his pipe and blew out a cloud of blue-tinted smoke as he tried to calm himself. _This was it: the moment of truth. It was time to see if Kingston would truly accept his insane claims._

"Well, ah… it's kind of unbelievable, what I'm about to tell you – but hear me out, because I do have evidence to support my claims – Mitch has provided me with plenty of that…" John coughed nervously as he inhaled too much tobacco, prompting Kingston to roll his beady eyes and slap him repeatedly on the back.

"John, I'm starting to grow a little tired of you beating around the bush here. Just come out and say it man, how bad could it possibly be?"

"IHAVEREASONTOBELIEVETHATTHEBEASTSTHATAREATTACKINGTOWNSVILLEARELYCANS." John blurted out in one breath, breathing heavily as he inhaled a minute of Tobacco and oxygen. Kingston was silent for a few moments as he struggled to process what his scientist had said.

The girls waited anxiously for his reaction, as their father shifted his weight from one foot to the other – nervously fiddling with his pipe as he waited for the white clad man to digest the rush of information.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Kingston raised his index finger as confusion spread across his rounded features. "I caught _Lycan?_ As in… werewolf Lycan?" he narrowed his eyes. "You're not suggesting that it's a werewolf, are you John?"

John hung his head in shame. _Of course it would have been too much to expect for Kingston Morbucks to believe his wild claims. He even knew how insane they sounded. He didn't know why he would have thought that the most wealthy and prominent businessman in the city would believe him-_

"Well… that's a bit of a stretch, but if you and this Mitch lad truly believe that those creatures are what the beasts really are… Well… I suppose I can get behind it."

John's head shot up at Kingston's words. He searched the larger man's face to see if he was kidding, only to see that he looked surprisingly sincere.

"Wait, you believe me?!" John sputtered around his pipe – almost dropping it as his jaw went slack.

"Well I know you John, and I know that you are a man who sticks to the facts, and only facts. So, for you to come out and say that you think it could be a creature that technically shouldn't even exist… well… I'm sure you have valid proof to back up what you're saying. I doubt you would just pull something like that out of thin air."

"I do, I do – Mitch helped me bring some of the facts to light!" John agreed. "I don't suppose you've heard of the gypsy massacre?" Kingston nodded. "I was there the night it happened… I saw those things, and witnessed firsthand what they were capable of doing – but I wasn't sure what exactly they were… It was only when Mitch ended up fighting them face to face a month later, that I finally got some insight as to what they were."

"I see." Kingston nodded his head thoughtfully. "So then how did the two of you come to the conclusion that the monsters were… werewolves?"

"When Mitch took a group of hunters into the woods in an effort to kill them last month, he got a _very_ good look at them." John admitted as he snuffed out his pipe. "He could tell immediately that they weren't normal creatures… obviously… in fact-" John paused. _How much did he tell Kingston about the gypsy's that he went to see? For now, the less he knew about them, the better he deemed._

"Ironically enough, Mitch actually went to see the same gypsy's that I did, and they both told us the same thing." John shook his head. "I should have listened to them the first time, but could you blame me? It sounded too surreal… I don't know how they knew exactly, but they did…"

"Interesting…" Kingston mused thoughtfully. "Does Mojo know?" John cringed.

"No… Not yet, I planned on telling him next time I went to see him – which would have been this week at some point. But to be quite honest with you, I'm dreading it." he admitted. "Mojo is… difficult to handle on a good day, and well… he isn't the most agreeable person to work with. I know that he won't believe me when I tell him this, which is why I wanted to take Mitch with me – to help me explain it to him. Honestly I'm surprised that you're even taking me seriously on this." Kingston merely waved him away.

"Like I said: I know that you're a credible man John. I know that you would only come up with an answer like that if there was no other explanation. I'm willing to believe in you for that account."

 _That and if you are indeed correct – then I wouldn't mind taking a little look at these beasties myself._ The larger man thought to himself as he rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"Besides, that's all the more reason that we all take a ride up to this estate right now! This is important news after all – and while we're there, you can introduce me to this former partner of yours." Kingston beamed. "I've heard so much about him recently and I'm just _dying_ to finally meet him."

"O-oh, you mean… go there… as in right now?" John squeaked, copying Bubbles's reaction only moments ago. "I don't know about that, usually I write to him and inform him that I'm coming to pay him a visit… he might have plans today-"

"Based on what you've told me, I'm going to assume that he doesn't leave his estate very much." Kingston cut in unapologetically. "My guess is that he's still there, and its only early afternoon now anyways. What could he possibly be doing that's of importance right now?"

"Well I mean, I suppose we could go see what Mojo is doing…" John sighed. "I'll have to go to the sables and tell the barn keeps to get a coach ready for us though-"

"Nonsense John we can just take mine, how do you think I got here?" Kingston boomed, as he stepped aside, allowing John to see out on the walkway. Sure enough, there was a massive ornate carriage, pulled by a team of four horses, complete with a driver. John shook his head inwardly – _leave it to Kingston to arrive in style regardless of where he was._

"Ah… well, alright then. Girls? Would you like to come along?" John asked. Bubbles sighed lightly as she caught the look that Buttercup was giving her. "Well… I suppose so yes-"

"Perfect, grab your shoes and coats loves, we don't want to keep the coachman waiting then." John replied as he dug into the closet adjacent to the door, and began to pass them their coats. Kingston chuckled at his scientist's flustered disposition. "I'll be in the carriage waiting then." He winked as he slipped out of the house.

"I hope you know what you're doing Buttercup." Bubbles muttered as she bent down to lace up her boots beside her sisters. Buttercup only sighed as she fastened her traveling cloak around her shoulders.

"Me to Bubbles, me too."

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

"Good lord! So, you're telling me that Mojo owns all of this property?"

"Yes, everything past this point belongs to Mojo."

"Unbelievable! The man might own just as much land as I do!" Kingston boomed as he pressed his face up against the frost covered glass of the carriage – taking in the barren, snow-covered hills that surrounded them on both sides, as the carriage made its way towards the ice-covered mansion.

The girls sat in silence beside their father in the carriages plush interior – neither of the three truly looking forward to this visit. Finally, Bubbles tapped her father on the shoulder, resulting in him lowering his head down to meet hers. "What if Mojo isn't home?" John sighed. "Unfortunately, Kingston had a point when he said that Mojo doesn't leave his estate much." He told the platinum haired girl softly. "He's more than likely still there."

Bubbles hummed as she watched the decrepit mansion slowly come into view. She flinched as the carriage passed the stone wolf statues. When she had first seen them, she thought that they had looked amazing – now… they looked downright terrifying.

The carriage pulled up in front of the massive double door and the group exited the carriage one by one. Kingston cracked his back and chuckled as he took in the sight of the mansion looming above them. "Extraordinary. This must have been in his family for a fair amount of time." He gestured to the mansion and the gardens surrounding it. John nodded.

"I believe Mojo told me at one point that it has been in his family for the last five generations. It got passed down to him with both of his parents died." Kingston nodded approvingly as he began to climb the icy stone steps. "Well he's a lucky man then. I'm very interested to meet the man who owns all of this."

"Yes well, I need to warn you again that Mojo is… well, foreign… and… just… don't comment on his height, whatever you do." John muttered as he reached for the door knocker. Kingston eyebrow rose. "Alright, whatever for?"

John bit the inside of his cheek. "You'll see." He muttered as he knocked on the door. There was absolute silence from inside the household and John frowned. "That's odd, normally he's very good at answering his door." He muttered as he tried the handle, only to find that the front door was unlocked. Kingston clapped him on the back. "Well done John my boy! Now let's go inside before these nasty winter winds carry us off."

"I don't think we should just walk in there uninvited." John protested as Kingston entered the household. "Mojo is very peculiar about-"

"Nonsense John, he knows you, we'll be fine. Besides, do you want your daughters to freeze out there?" Kingston asked from inside the house. John sighed as he looked back at his daughters, who were shivering from the cold as the winds blew their cloaks around their slender frames.

"Girls, in the house." The three didn't need to be told twice as they bustled in past their father, leaving John to close the door behind them with a loud _slam_ that rattled the insides of the house.

"My god this place is fantastic." Kingston commented as he took in the grand interior, while John and the girls put away their cloaks in the large closet next to the doors. "All of this ornate design must be from the 1700's or possibly late 1600's since you said that this has been in his family for five generations. It's absolutely extraordinary-"

"INTRUDERS! HOW DARE YOU ENTER THE HOUSEHOLD OF MOOOOJOOO JOJO WITHOUT PERMISSION! YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY, NOW GO, SCRAM, VAMOOSE, BEFORE I SICK THE HOUNDS ON Y-ou?"

Mojo barreled into the foyer, waving what looked like a fencing sword in his hand, only to notice John and the girls standing in front of him – looking alarmed. The shorter man coughed in embarrassment as he trailed off and gently put the sword on a nearby table. "Oh… hello everyone. I wasn't expecting to see any of you today." He greeted them as he calmly strode towards them.

" _That's_ Mojo Jojo?" Kingston hissed as he elbowed John in the ribs. John nodded. "I warned you that he probably wasn't going to be anything like what you were expecting." John muttered back as he moved forward to greet his old lab partner.

"Well I can tell that he's ah... foreign." Kingston hissed under his breath as he took in the short little man with a thick accent, who looked more like an ape then a man.

"Well John, I will admit that this is quite the surprise." Mojo said as he shook hands with the taller man. "But it's not unwelcome I suppose."

"Sorry Mojo, your door was unlocked." The salt and pepper haired man replied with a slight shrug. "Why didn't you answer your door?"

"If you really must know, I was using the washroom, but it would appear to me that I can't even do that nowadays without people letting themselves into my home." Mojo grumbled under his breath, as he retracted his hand and looked behind him at Kingston. "Who might this be?"

Kingston suck out his ring encrusted hand for Mojo to shake. "Kingston Morbucks – John's patron back home, at your service." He smiled far too broadly, as he all but towered over the ape-like man. "I've been wanting to meet you for quite some time now actually."

Mojo looked at the hand that was offered to him, but didn't make any move to take it, causing Kingston to pull his hand back after a moment with a slight frown. "Ah yes… I had heard that a man by the name of Morbuck's had come to town not too long ago, and had purchased property in town. I had a feeling we would meet soon enough."

Kingston nodded, "Well yes, but how did you know-"

"My sources around town tell me these things." Mojo interrupted with a cool smile. "I am the reigning lord of Townsville after all, I know much."

John sucked on his teeth as he watched the exchange between Mojo and Kingston take place. He could already feel the ice slowly start to build up between them, and could already tell that neither powerhouse would get along with the other. Just as well though, he had expected it.

"So now then, John." Mojo turned to him, looking up at his expectantly, "Why exactly have you and your patron come to pay me a visit on such short notice?"

"Well, I have some new to share with you about the attacks." John said, doing his best not to break eye contact with the shorter man. "It news I've been meaning to share with you for a while now, I just haven't been able to… find the proper way to tell you-"

"and I also have some thing's I want to discuss with you about." Kingston cut in. "It's concerning the time that my daughter came to your household with John and Miss Blossom over there."

Mojo regarded the fur clad man for a moment before a secretive smile speak across his lips, revealing teeth that looked too sharp to belong in a human mouth. "Yes… I remember her… such a… charming girl she was… I have things I wish to discuss with you on that matter as well then."

Mojo peered past him to look at the girls – as if he had just noticed they were there. "Hello my sweets, it is always so nice to see your smiling faces around this household." Blossom quickly curtsied as he addressed them. "Oh no, my lord, the pleasure is all ours. Thank you for inviting us in on such short notice." Mojo cracked a small smile at her as he returned her bow.

"I doubt that you will want to hear us old men talk, I shall call my sons for you." He told her as he turned his head to call over his shoulder to call up the stairs, "BOYS! COME DOWN HERE AT ONCE – YOU HAVE SOME VISITORS."

There was a slight shuffling sound from the floor above them, followed by the sounds of pained groans, as the sound of heavy footsteps slowly dragged themselves towards the grand stairwell, before three different sets of legs slowly made their way down the stairs – their top halves becoming visible a second later. A massive man with ebony hair descended the stairs first, rubbing at his eyes tiredly with one hand, followed closely by two other boys – one with freshly cut auburn hair, and the last one with soft blonde hair.

"God, dad, what do you want? I swear to god if it's one of those merchants from town again, I'm going to- Oh, Butterbabe… what are you doing here?!"

The man stopped in the middle of his rant as he caught sight of the middle sister. Blossom turned around just in time to see a bright red flush spread across her sister cheeks like wildfire, before it disappeared as quickly as it came. The brute quickly descended the stairs along with his brothers and came to stand just behind his father – not bothering to try and hide the wild grin on his face as stared at the smaller girl across from him along with his brothers.

Kingston's eyes lit up as he saw the boys. "Ah… so these must be your sons." _And the brats who had the nerve to insult my daughter._ He added to himself with a growl, only for his dark eyes to widen as he took in the sight of the boys standing next to their father.

The first thing he noticed was that the boys… really looked nothing like their father. Mojo was stout – barely reaching five feet – and had long, large arms much like an ape, while his sons all stood at well over six feet and were incredibly well built – if not dead looking.

"Kingston, meet my triplets: my eldest Brick," he pointed to the man with the… most unnatural red eyes that he had ever seen in his life. "my middle son, Butch," the tallest and broadest of the boys with midnight black hair grunted at him. "and my youngest, Boomer." The lean blonde with the darkest blue eyes that he had ever seen on another person at least had the decency to offer him a small wave.

Mojo caught the baffled look on Kingston's face, and rolled his eyes. "They take after their mother's side in appearance before you ask… thankfully."

"You're triplets, you say?" Kingston asked hesitantly, as he received nods of confirmation from the three boys. "My goodness, you really don't look anything like each other."

"Well neither to the girls, but you don't see anyone giving them shit about it." Butch responded gruffly as he jutted his chin out at them with a sarcastic smirk on his face, which only grew bigger as Kingston recoiled slightly from his word choice.

"Well… I suppose not… I'm just used to seeing them…" he sputtered. "I know that they have a rare condition, I just didn't expect to find another set of triplets with the same… condition, I suppose."

"We're one of a kind." Boomer replied with a hint of a grin, as Kingston shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. He didn't like the look that the blonde man was giving him… it looked… _hungry_ …

"Well then, I will let the six of you catch up, or whatever it is that you children do." Mojo huffed, beckoning for John and Kingston to follow him as he took off down one of the dark hallways behind him. "We can discuss these matters in my office. We won't be disturbed there."

John followed after Kingston as the shorter man led them away from the young adults. "If you need me, don't hesitate to call for me." He told them sternly as he walked off, leaving the girls alone with the boys. As soon as he was gone,

"I'm glad you three could join us this afternoon." Brick addressed the girls politely – redirecting their attention onto him. "You'll have to forgive us if we're slightly sluggish today, we're still recovering from a fever."

Buttercup's eyes narrowed slightly. "Another one?"

Brick paused slightly as his blood red orbs shifted in her direction, before nodding stiffly at her. "Yes unfortunately so. This winter is a particularly cold one this year and my brothers and I don't have the best immune systems I suppose one could say." Somewhere behind him, Brick heard Butch snort from his poor excuse.

"Odd, you and your brothers seem to get sick once every month." Buttercup stated nonchalantly as she briefly examined her cuticles. "Are you sure that it's just bad immune systems?"

Brick felt himself stiffen with the ravenette's monotone question, and didn't have to look behind him to see that Butch and Boomer had frozen too. _Just what was the feisty ink-haired woman playing at…?_

"Yes, I'm sure, we've had multiple doctors tell us so." Brick lied smoothly. "It really is a pain however. It hinders us from having company such as you three over more often. We wouldn't want you three to catch what we have." Brick responded, watching as Buttercup's face remained impassive before nodding once and redirected her attention back down to her feet. The redhead frowned. _Something was bothering the normally fiery green eyed woman. She wasn't normally so withdrawn._

He shot Butch a look out of the corner of his eye: _Find out what it is._ Butch nodded his head slightly in response – letting him know that he understood.

With a grin, the barrel-chested man strode forward and grasped one of her smaller hands in his larger one. "Come on Sunshine, let's go for a walk. I haven't seen my favorite girl for almost two weeks, I missed you!"

"What the- release me you giant!" Buttercup screeched indignantly, as Butch all but yanked her away from her sisters. Butch only smirked back at the remaining four siblings. "We're going to go for a walk – catch up on a few things – we'll be back later."

"God, why must you drag me everywhere every time we meet up? I'm more then capable of following you without your help." Buttercup snapped only for Butch let out a laugh in response as he tugged her down an adjacent hallway, and out of her sister's sights – her protests becoming fainter and fainter the farther down the hallway they went, until they couldn't hear her at all.

Boomer sighed as he shot the remaining girls an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, he gets overly excited sometimes, but he means well." He turned to Bubbles with a soft smile as he extended his arm to her. "Well milady, would you like to take a walk with me?" Bubbles couldn't help but giggle at his antics as she laced her arm with his. "Why yes, don't mind if I do." She looked back at Blossom. "You don't mind if I do, right Blossom?"

"No that's fine, go ahead." Blossom nodded, granting her permission to leave with the taller male. "I'm sure Brick and I will find something to do here in the meantime. Go have fun."

 _Besides, out of all of all three of them, I'm pretty sure that Boomer is the least dangerous._ Blossom thought to herself privately. Truthfully, Boomer was the Jojo brother that she had the least issues with, and didn't necessarily mind her youngest sister going off with him. Brick and Butch were a little more troublesome.

Bubbles smiled at her. "I doubt we'll go far, right Boomer?"

"Right, I was thinking that I could show you some of the drawing rooms this time around. You still like to draw, don't you?"

Blossom noticed a change in her blue eyes sister's expression at his words, and she nodded. "Actually, about that, there's something I've been meaning to ask you, and I'm hoping that you'll be able to give me an answer."

Boomer nodded as he began to escort her way from the reds. "Of course, hopefully I'll be able to help." He nodded at his brother. "I'll see you later."

"Behave." Brick snorted as Boomer sneered at him in response as he led Bubbles through the same set of doors that their father, Mojo and Kingston had gone through, and disappeared from sight.

Blossom couldn't help but stiffen as they left her alone with Brick – the conversation that she had with Bubbles before they came here had put her on edge. She turned to face the crimson eyed man – carefully searching his handsome face – looking for any cracks in his façade – if he even had one, that is.

 _No, he and his brothers couldn't have known about what was going to happen to Mitch. Could they?_

Brick smirked at her and Blossom couldn't help but feel her insides twist. Whether it was from the slight attraction that she held for him or nerves – she couldn't tell.

"and then there were two babe, and then there were two."

* * *

"You know I'm all for surprises, but I wish that you've have given me a little more warning that you were going to come for a visit today – otherwise I'd have tried to look a little more presentable." Boomer laughed lightly as he guided Bubbles down the hallway where the three adults before them had gone.

"Sorry about that." She reasoned airily with an apologetic smile. "We… weren't going to come up today, so this came as a bit of a surprise to us too. Mr. Morbucks decided that he wanted to take an impulse trip up here and meet your father in person, and daddy can't say no to him per say."

"Right, because he's your father patron, right?" Boomer asked. Bubbles nodded. "He funds my father's experiments, so we try and be extra polite to him – that includes his daughter, Princess."

"I figured as much. I only saw Princess for a few minutes when she came here with your sister and father last time, but I can honestly say that I'm not a fan." He laughed. "Don't tell her father I said that though." That got a genuine laugh out of her. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me – we're not either."

Boomer barked out a laugh as they passed a large set of double doors. Bubbles strained to hear what they were saying, only to make out the words " _Completely unacceptable behavior coming from him-"_ coming from within the room. She winced sympathetically - already figuring out what the issue they were discussing was, and who Kingston was talking about. Boomer nodded to the doors."That's my father's study, there's a really nice drawing room just past it. We can talk there."

Bubbles nodded silently as they came to the end of the hall and stopped in front of the last door on the left. She was still a little nervous about being on her own with him. After what she and her sisters had discussed earlier, she felt uneasy about coming to the estate – much less trying to find answers to the nagging questions that had been bothering them after hearing what had happened to Mitch.

She shook her head as Boomer released her arm to open the door. _It was too bad about what had happened to Mitch, but she had some questions of her own that she wanted answers to._

Like that dream that she had the last full moon.

Bubbles frowned. Was it a dream or a memory from her past? She couldn't be sure. All she knew was that she couldn't stop thinking about it ever since, and if anyone had the answers – it was Boomer.

She entered the room and let a small gasp escape her as she took in her surroundings. The curtains that lined the tall bay windows were completely open – letting pale light stream into the open room. Drawing boards and easels were scattered around the room and vibrant paints lined the walls – bringing colour to the otherwise dull room.

Bubbles gently touched one of the easels that was close to her, making Boomer smile. The drawing room that she had in her house back at home in Citysville paled to this one, and the manor here didn't have one. Her finger were itching to grab a blank canvas and paint, but she had questions that she needed to ask beforehand.

"It's beautiful." She whispered as she spun in a slow circle – taking in the whole room. "It's my favorite room in the house." Boomer informed her softy as he moved behind her. "It nice to see that it's bright in here." Bubbles mused as she stopped spinning to face him. "The rest of your house is so dark in comparison." Boomer scrunched up us nose.

"I hate the dark." He muttered. "Always have, always will. I'm-" he paused as his face seemed to pale slightly. "-not a fan of dark, crowded places." He admitted after a brief pause. "Oh?" Bubble cocked her head, "Why is that?"

"Too many bad memories associated with both."

Bubbles didn't have the heart to elaborate on what he meant. The discomfort that was written across his face was enough for her. Taking the pity on him, she offered him a small smile.

"I'll tell you a secret: I hate the dark too." She said as she watched him perk up slightly. "In fact, when I was little, I remember having this little purple octopus doll that I carried with me everywhere. He helped me sleep at night when I got scared. His name was Octi I believe." She frowned.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in years… I can't remember if he came with me to our house in Citysville… I have no idea where he went."

"I know. I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Boomer blurted out, looking as if he wanted to slap his hand over his mouth the moment he said it.

Bubbles looked up at him, confused. "What-"

Boomer shook his head. "Nothing. Anyways, you mentioned that there was something that you wanted to ask me earlier?"

"Oh yes," Bubbles nodded, tracing the ornate easel. "I had a dream close to a week or so ago… well, dream isn't exactly the right word… it was more of a memory I think." She turned around to face him, seeing that he remained emotionless as she spoke – giving nothing away. "and since you seem to recall more about out childhoods then I can, I was wondering if you could tell me whether it happened or not. For all I know, I could've just dreamed it up."

"That depends, what was it that you dreamed?" Boomer asked tightly.

"It was of you and me." Bubbles began as she shut her eyes – trying to call the foggy dream back to her. "We couldn't have been any more than five I think, and we were here." She opened her eyes and looked around. "Not in this room, but we were here somewhere in the house." Boomer nodded, "Go on." He urged her.

"Well I guess I was drawing a picture of you and me." Bubbles suddenly felt heat rising up into her cheeks. _What was she doing, telling him about some silly dream that she had? It sounded ridiculous now that she was saying it out loud._

"Sorry, it was a really random dream – if you don't want to hear about it I completely understand-"

"No, this is interesting, please go on." Boomer encouraged her kindly. "Dreams can be weird sometimes, but this almost sounds vaguely familiar."

"Um… well..." Bubbles coughed out sheepishly as she looked down at her dress. "I was drawing this picture of us and well… I think I made you promise that you would always stay with me, or something along those lines." She felt herself flush a deep red as the words left her mouth, and kept her eyes trained on the floor below her as she struggled to control the blush that was wildly spreading to her entire face.

She looked back up at him only after she was sure that the worst of the blush had passed. "We were very close when we were younger, weren't we?"

At her question, Boomer suddenly looked very sad. After a moment, he let out a deep sigh and nodded slowly. "Yes we were. We were very close." He confirmed as he ran a hand through his slightly messy hair.

Bubbles nodded. "I thought so…" she took a half step towards him. "So… can you tell me… if that really happened or not?" she asked him gently. Boomer flinched, but nodded stiffly. "It's real, or at least, from what I can remember, yes – it happened… at least to my knowledge." He confirmed.

Bubbles let out a tiny sigh. "Well… it's good to know that I didn't just make it up." She let out a nervous laugh. "What an odd thing to dream about, I'm sorry if that caught you off guard or-"

"I did promise that I would always stay with you." Boomer muttered almost to himself, stopping her. "You made that kind of difficult for me when you moved away though."

Bubbles didn't know what to say to that. It was becoming more and more clear to her that the boy in front of her still held some sort of deep devotion to her from when they were children. She didn't know the reason why, but she still found it oddly touching regardless.

"Well… I'm here now, aren't it?" she asked quietly. Boomer looked up at her and gave her a soft smile.

"Yes. Yes you are."

* * *

As soon as Bubbles and Boomer had left Brick turned to Blossom with a neutral expression on his face.

"So… that was Princess's father."

"It was indeed."

"Is he here about what happened when Princess was over?"

"That's one of the reasons why, yes."

Brick snorted. "What a brat." Blossom slapped his arm gently as she tried to bite back a laugh. "That's not very nice Brick, you hardly know her."

"Am I wrong though?" Brick asked with the hint of a grin on his face. "Well no-" Blossom started off, only for the crimson eyed man to grin at her admission. Blossom sighed. "Alright fine, I'll let you have that one, but don't let Kingston hear you say that-"

Brick snorted in amusement. "Kingston? Princess? God, snobbish family much? Who does the naming in their family?"

"Her mother's name is Queenie if that helps." Blossom added as she started to crack up. _God, what was wrong with her? This morning she and her sisters were discussing the seriousness of their current situation, and how it was possible that the boy's might know what had happened to Mitch…_ Blossom shook her head tiredly as the thought sobered her up almost immediately. It had to be the stress finally catching up to her. She figured that it was only a matter of time.

"Oh good, we have the whole royal family." Brick rolled his eyes as he smoothed a hand through his disheveled red locks. "Unbelievable." He muttered to himself as he turned and beckoned her to follow him. "Well come on then, we can relax in one of the living rooms – it would be impolite of me to keep you here at the door."

Blossom let out one final laugh before she tailed him out of the foyer. The broad-shouldered man led her in the opposite direction from where her father an siblings had gone – this time, taking her down a hallway that she hadn't been down before. Brick began to make idle small talk as they passed by several different rooms, but Blossom wasn't paying attention as a small, forgotten door at the very end of the hallway they were passing caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

For reasons that escaped her, she suddenly became very interested in knowing that was behind it. She had taken a step away from Brick and towards it before she caught herself.

She shook her head slowly. This wasn't what she came here to do. Buttercup had wanted to come for the sole reason of getting answers about what happened to Mitch – she couldn't let herself get distracted by a door of all things…

And yet, for some reason, she almost seemed to be drawn to the small door at the end of the hallway.

Brick's voice sounded far away as her feet began to move down the hall towards the door – almost as if she was hypnotized – and before she realized it, she was standing just in front of the old wooden door.

She slowly put her hand on the old black doorknob and twisted, finding it to be unlocked. She slowly pushed the door inwards only to find herself staring into what appeared to be an old storage room, that looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years.

She hesitantly stepped into the room, carefully maneuvering around several pieces of furniture that were covered by dusty white sheets. She coughed as she bumped into what she assumed to be a chair, sending dust particles into the air around her. She swatted away floating pieces of dust away from her face irritably, as she fought back the urge to sneeze. _The dust that had settled on every surface had to be at least 2 inches thick._ She mused. _Had anyone been in here at all in the last several years?_

"What are you doing in here?"

Blossom gasped and whirled around as Bricks voice snapped her out of her trace, only to see the taller man standing in the middle of the open doorway – looking a strange mix of terrified and irritated.

"Oh Brick, I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me, I just saw the door out of the corner of my eye as we were walking past, and for whatever reason I just wanted to see what was in it-"

"I turn around for one minute and you take off." Brick shook his head as stepped into the room behind her. "There are certain rooms in this house that you shouldn't go into. This one happens to be one of them. There's stuff in here that you don't need to see-"

He broke off as his eyes locked on something behind her. Blossom followed his gaze only to see that he was focused on a massive painting that half covered by a white sheet, leaning up against the wall. He gently brushed past her and tugged the sheet completely off the painting – revealing a full-body portrait of a woman.

Brick stood in front of it – frozen and unmoving as he gazed up at the person in the painting, leaving Blossom confused. Shuffling closer to the painting, Blossom could make out that it was a beautiful woman with long black hair, pale skin with light freckles dotting the tops of her cheeks, and vibrant green eyes.

She narrowed her rose orbs at the woman depicted in the painting. _She knew her from somewhere. She felt as if she had possibly seen her before, once a long time ago._

She looked at Brick out of the corner of her eyes only to see that he looked distinctly uncomfortable as he gazed up at the painting beside her. It was then, she placed who the woman was.

 _Lady Sudusa._

"This is your mother, isn't it." she asked him quietly. Brick flinched slightly at her question, before squaring his shoulders and nodded in conformation – not bothering to look at her. "Yes. It is."

Blossom nodded. "I thought so… I think I saw this painting once as a child a long time ago, but I don't remember if I ever met her face to face." Blossom mused quietly, as she reached out a tentative hand to touch the old painting. "Probably not. She hardly ever left her room, even when my brothers and I were children. You more than likely saw this during one of your visits here. Hell, I saw this picture of her, more than I ever actually saw her in person." Brick informed her with a snort.

Blossom glanced over at him – shocked, but Brick didn't acknowledge her baffled stare. Instead, he kept his blood red eyes trained up at the painting of his mother. There was something in his eyes, and the way he looked up at the pale woman that made Blossom hesitate.

She needed to know… she needed to know just where the mysterious Lady Jojo had gone. Brick had to know, or at least have some indication of where she had gone. She only hoped that Brick wouldn't dismiss her question like he had some of her other ones.

"Brick?" Blossom asked hesitantly as she tried to keep her voice from cracking. "Hrm?" Brick grunted, his eyes were still closed as he promptly refused to look at her. Blossom swallowed thickly.

"What happened to your mother?"

Brick's blazing red orbs snapped open at her timid question, as he whipped his head to the side to look at her. Blossom felt herself shrink back slightly from the intensity of his stare, as she watched a variety of raw emotions swirl around in the deep pools of red.

After a long pause, Brick let out a sigh as he gently closed his eyes again and allowed a small chuckle pass his lips.

"Now that, is a good question." He responded after a moment. Blossom frowned. "You don't know?" she asked gently. Brick shook his head.

"I didn't say that. All I know is that she's not here, and she has no plans on coming back anytime soon. Not that she'd want too." He added under his breath, causing Blossom to tilt her head in confusion.

"I thought your father said that she was in Europe-"

"My father says a lot of things Blossom. Some of them are true, some of them are not. You'll come to find out soon enough that he's full of shit on a good day."

Blossom recoiled slightly from his course choice of words. She had figured out from the frosty interactions between father and son that they didn't have the best relationship, but she hadn't realized that it was so bitter.

Brick flinched slightly as Blossom winced at his word choice. "Sorry." He murmured gently, as he gestured for her to move closer towards him. "He just has a way of bringing out the worst in me sometimes."

"I… I take it that you and him don't see eye to eye on many things…" she finally managed to get out after realizing that she had been silent for too long. Brick smirked darkly at her observation. "You could say that." He agreed. "Things have been tense between him and my brothers for years now, it's nothing for you to worry about though." He added quickly, seeing her expression become worried.

"Why?" she breathed gently as she rested a hand on his broad shoulder. Brick flinched at the contact, but made no move to shrug her off. He glanced up at the picture of the pale woman for a minute before setting his jaw firmly.

"Let's just say that he was a big part of the reason why my mother lost her mind and took off when I was a child." He muttered dryly. Blossom's eyes widened at his confession.

"Why-"

"Just forget that I said anything." Brick interrupted with a slight growl. "It's old history Blossom, nobody needs to know because it doesn't matter anymore. She's not coming back _ever_ , and it's probably better that way to be honest."

Blossom was silent as she mulled over what Brick had just said. _Buttercup was right._ She realized with a start. _Something was very off about the family._

She looked back over at Brick, only to see that he was watching her intently, and knew that she was talking too long to come up with a response. She coughed lightly, and shot him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry to hear that Brick… truly I am… I'm sure you must miss her terribly."

"Not particularly, but thank you for your concern Blossom." The red eyed man must have seen the poorly disguised shook written across her pale features, because he only shook his head with a slightly ruthful smile. "I was very young when she left, so I don't remember her too much. That and I didn't have the best relationship with her while she was here anyway."

"Why?" Blossom whispered, unable to stop the word from leaving her lips. She knew that she shouldn't ask, but Brick's cryptic answers was leaving her with more questions then answers, and now she was intrigued by the ever-elusive lady, that no one seemed to want to talk about.

Brick was silent for a while as he tried to think of a way to respond to her question. Finally, he sighed set his lips in a firm line.

"I suppose it was because she was afraid of me and my brothers, but mostly me."

Blossom froze at his confession. _A mother afraid of her own children… that was almost unheard of. If anything, it was children who feared their parents, not the other way around, and certainly not their mothers of all people. But then… what could she had been so afraid of in the first place?_

"Your mother was… afraid of you?" she echoed softly. Brick nodded once. "Yes."

"But how could she possibly fear her own children-"

"Because sometimes we could be a little too much to handle at times – I don't know Blossom." Ground out, almost as if he were in pain. He gave her a pitiful look as he turned away from the portrait. "If it's alright with you, I wish to leave. Maybe I'll tell you more about her in the future when I'm feeling up to it."

"Oh, yes of course Brick, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. It must be hard for you to talk about her." Blossom apologized, only for Brick to shrug. "I guess I should have known that you'd ask eventually. You always asked a lot of questions, even when we were children."

"I suppose it's one thing about me that never changed." Blossom sent him a sheepish smile, as Brick returned it with a weak one. "It's endearing." He assured her as he turned and walked out of the room, gesturing for her to follow him.

Blossom shot the painting of the pale woman one last look, before she followed him out. As soon as she left, Brick shut the door behind her and locked it firmly as he strode back down the hallway – motioning for Blossom to follow him back to their original destination. She didn't question him, unwilling to frustrate him anymore then he already was, and followed silently behind him, her mind still buzzing with questions.

She still had no idea who Lady Sudusa really was, or what had happened to her – and going off of what Brick had told her – it didn't sound like she was in Europe like Mojo had originally said she was. If that was the case, then where exactly was she? Brick certainly didn't seem to know, and she doubted that the other members of his family knew.

Blossom frowned as she followed Brick back towards the main part of the mansion. She still had so many questions, and the only person that she felt comfortable enough asking had made it clear that he wasn't going to be discussing it with her anytime soon-

Suddenly, a thought stuck her, interrupting her train of thought. _Mama knew Sudusa from when they were children._ The lovely red-head thought to herself as she followed Brick back towards the main living room. _She mentioned that they grew up together once or twice. She could tell me more about her, since Brick doesn't seem inclined to talk about her anymore._ She thought privately to herself as she kept her eyes trained on Brick's back.

The rose orbed woman made a mental note to ask her mother about the wild-eyed woman when she got a free moment, just as Brick shot her a hooded look over his shoulder. "Pinky? You alright? You got awful quiet back there."

His rasp snapped her out of her thoughts and she nodded quickly. "Yes, yes I'm fine. I was just thinking about how your mother was an extraordinarily beautify woman." She lied. _You're not the only one who can act._

Brick stopped in his tracks for a fraction of a second at her abrupt statement, only to start to walk briskly towards the more familiar sections of the house – almost as if he was intent on putting as much distance between himself and the painting of his mother as he possibly could.

"…Yes… Yes, she was." Brick finally sighed as he gently reached back for her hand, which she let him take after a slight pause.

"Yes she was."

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" Buttercup growled as she unsuccessfully tried to pry her arm out of Butch's hold, but the well-built man refused to relinquish the grip he had on the dark woman's wrist as he led her down a dimly lit hallway and away from their siblings.

"Just a place where we can talk uninterrupted." He rumbled coolly. As he sent the exotic looking girl a fond look over his shoulder. "You look more upset then you usually do, and as attractive as you look when you're mad-" he grinned inwardly as a light pink dusting covered the tops of Buttercup's cheeks. "I don't like seeing you as upset as you are now. I don't know what's wrong, but you look like you need someone to talk to."

"…And just why would I want to talk to you exactly?" Buttercup muttered as she discreetly tried to yank her arm away from the tight grip Butch had on her. "Last time we met up, you practically proposed to me in an alleyway – which was hardly appropriate by the way." she lifted an eyebrow at him, only for Butch to snort and wave her accusations away with his free hand.

"Oh please Sunshine, I already told you: that was hardly a proposal. I was just letting you know where we stand."

"Well I hardly agree." Buttercup argued as Butch dragged them into one of the unoccupied sitting rooms before shutting the doors behind them, finally relinquishing the bruising hold on her wrist. "I barely know you aside from what I remember from when we were children, and you certainly don't know me. I don't know why you'd want me for a wife. We hardly seem like we could make each other happy. All we do is fight."

"Oh but that's where you're wrong." Butch informed her with a dark grin as he turned around to face her, causing her to unconsciencly take a step back in response. "We have so much history together, you and I. You've just forgotten it for the time being."

"You've already said that." Buttercup muttered as she rubbed her sore wrist. "Just what exactly is it that I'm supposed to remember? I'm actually quite curious myself."

Butch shook his head much to her disappointment. "I'll tell you, if you tell me what's bothering you." He promised. He moved past her to sit down on one of the plush leather couches that occupied the room. He sat down with a sigh and patted the space beside him with a tiny grin. "Come tell me about what's making you so miserable love."

"Don't call me that." Buttercup hissed, but reluctantly moved towards the sofa – taking a seat on the spot farthest away from the beast of a man. Butch rolled his dark green eyes and scooted closer to her, causing her to flinch as he draped his arm around the back of the sofa, near her shoulders.

Buttercup inhaled and exhaled deeply as she contemplated what to do.

"If I tell you what's bothering me, you have to tell me about this… history, that we seem to have together. Deal?"

"Fine." Butch laughed lightly, as he nudged her shoulder that was closest to him. "Now, what's making my pet so unhappy?"

Buttercup fought the urge to slap him at the pet name, but realizing that he was seriously waiting for her to tell him what was wrong with her – she felt the fight leave her as memories of the policeman who had told them the news about Mitch from earlier that week flooded her brain.

"It's Mitch…" she finally got out after a moment of silence. "During the last full moon he apparently went out hunting the Ly- I-I mean the beasts in the forest on his own, and they… and they…" she chocked as she grabbed fistfuls of her dark dress in her hands in an effort to calm herself down. "They got to him… and they hurt him… they hurt him really badly… If Ace hadn't found him when he did…"

 _He probably wouldn't be alive._ Buttercup thought bitterly to herself, but she simply couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.

"I heard." Butch sighed as he gently pulled her closer to his massive form. "Poor bugger got his left arm ripped clean off didn't he?"

Buttercup stiffened as his words washed over her. For whatever reason, something about that sentence seemed off to her, she just couldn't place what it was. Suddenly something clicked in her brain – any interest in finding out about their shared history together long forgotten, as she turned to face Butch with wide eyes.

"How did you know that?"

The intimidating man frowned slightly at her question. "Ace told me of course, he was the one who brought him back into town, said he was amazed that the guy was still alive to be honest-"

"No about his arm. How did you know exactly what arm got ripped off? Only my family and Mitch's Grandmother know that."

Buttercup watched as Butch's facial expression changed in a heartbeat. The sympathetic look slipped off his face and suddenly, he looked as if he wanted to hit something – preferably himself.

 _Shit._ Butch thought to himself wildly as he struggled to think of an excuse. _Ace hadn't even told him what arm had been bitten off. Of course,_ he _already knew as he had bitten said arm off in the first place, but clearly no one else knew about the extent of the hunter's injuries for the time being._

The gears in his head turned wildly, as he tried to think of an excuse to cover his slip of the tongue. He knew he was taking too long to respond as he watched Buttercup's brows knit themselves together as she glared at him suspiciously.

"Oh, did I say the left? I don't think I did." He finally sputtered lamely, knowing that she wouldn't buy it. Judging from the way Buttercup pushed herself away from him a second later, she didn't believe it either.

"No, you said his left arm." She insisted. "I heard you quite clearly. So how did you know about that?

"It was a slip of the tongue? I was thinking about something else and the two got mixed together-" Butch trailed off weakly as the lean woman stood up and backed away from him, as she shot him a harsh glare.

"You're a pretty awful liar." She informed him snidely as she backed away from him slowly, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable around the titan of a man. "How in the hell do you know the details about what happened to him?"

"I don't, I guessed-"

"You're a damn liar! You know exactly what arm he lost, so how do you know about that!?" Buttercup near screeched as she backed father away from him.

"Bubbles told me that she overheard you and your brothers talking about helping Mitch trapping the beasts when we were in town together, and I know that Mitch would never go out hunting big game like that alone! If you know something about that happened you need to tell me!" Her eyes blazed as she glared agitatedly at him.

"I don't know what to think about you brothers, but I know that you three are hiding something! I don't know what it is, but I'm going to figure it out myself if you don't come clean and tell me what is going on-"

Before she could even blink, Butch jumped up from his spot on the couch and had closed the space in-between them. He towered over her ominously, causing her to fall silent. He bent down slowly so that his head was level with hers, before moving forward slightly to whisper in her ear.

"Careful little one. There are things going on here that you don't understand. I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions if I were you – considering that you don't know the _half_ of what's really going on around here."

Buttercup trembled as he pulled away and drew back up to his full height. She looked up at him, and for the first time, she scared of him.

Her eyes must have betrayed her fear, because he stiffened and suddenly looked very unsure of himself. He reached out a hand, almost as if he was going to touch her, before his fingers curled and he pulled away, almost looking ashamed.

"I… Just… Just don't go looking for trouble Buttercup. Things are tense enough as it is." He muttered finally. Buttercup snorted bitterly as she began to count off on her fingers.

"My childhood friend is in a coma and no one is sure if he's ever going to recover, two of my family members are dead, and a large portion of gypsy's have been slaughtered all within the last four months. I think it's a little late to be saying that." She snapped as Butch looked away.

"Ever since my sisters and I came back here, it's been nothing but death and misery, and no one's willing to tell us anything about what's really going on around here. Hell, our own father wouldn't even tell us about his findings until recently!" Her harsh gaze turned into an almost pleading one.

"Butch if you know something about what happened to Mitch that night, or anything about the other attacks, I am begging you: please tell me! I don't want to be left in the dark any longer!"

The obsidian haired adults entered a staring contest with each other, unwilling to blink, unwilling to submit to the other – light green eyes bore into dark green – asking, almost pleading with their owner for an answer. Finally, it was Butch who looked away first. The muscular male looked to the side with a tired sigh.

"I can't."

Buttercup's eyes widened and she took a hesitant step towards him. "You can't or you won't?"

"I can't. I can't tell you what's going on anymore Buttercup, because if you want the honest truth… I don't even know anymore."

The tall ravenette narrowed her eyes. "So you _do_ know something." Butch closed his eyes and laced his hands behind his head, looking as if he was restraining himself from the urge to hit something.

"I didn't say that – I just meant that there's been something lurking in those woods for years now, and everyone who's lived here for long enough knows about it – that's common knowledge, it's just the attacks have gotten more aggressive lately, and people are only just starting to realize how dangerous these things are. End of story."

He opened his eyes and looked at her with an emotion in his eyes that she didn't recognize. "Trust me the less you know the better it is… it's for your own safety-"

"Fine." Buttercup snarled viciously. "To hell with you then, but I'm going to get answers. I'm not going to be kept in the dark any longer." Butch opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get anything out, she turned abruptly on her heel – her dark dress fanning out slightly from the action – and marched towards the doorway leading back to the main foyer, not wanting to be around the dark-haired man any longer.

"Buttercup." Butch called after her. Against her better judgement, she stopped to toss him a look over her shoulder, only to see that he was staring after her with an almost predatory look on his face, but that wasn't what caught her attention. his eyes were unusually dark, almost black, as opposed to their normal dark green hue.

"Be careful what you wish for… you might not like the answers."

Buttercup fought back the shudder that was rapidly making its way up her spine at his warning as she stared back at him defiantly.

"We'll see about that." She muttered under her breath, before quickly turning on her heel and all but ran down the hallway away from the intimidating man.

He didn't follow.

* * *

Mojo felt his right eye twitch as he stared down his old lab partner and his current boss.

Currently the large red-bearded man was in the midst of trying to tell how of how his sons had apparently "seriously offended his daughter" with their "rude and ungentlemanly-like behavior" and that he wished for them to "properly apologize like a man of his status should."

Mojo inwardly seethed as the burly man continued to rattle off his pointless demands. He had already heard about the arrogant girl from his eldest, and he could already tell the girl was just as much as an entitled, spoilt brat as Brick had led him to believe, and that her father was clearly to blame for her less than stellar behavior.

He would have to make a note and tell his sons to get rid of Kingston Morbucks if the opportunity arose.

Seriously, how one man could be so arrogant in another man's home was beyond him.

"… and so if you could see to it that your sons go pay my daughter a visit with a formal apology, I do think that will suffice old chap. Don't you agree?" Mojo snapped back to the present just as Kingston ended his ramble and placed his elbows on his desk with a raised eyebrow. The short man bit the inside of his cheek harshly as he attempted to calm himself down and not throttle the arrogant businessman where he sat.

Looking at John, the ape-like man could see that he looked distinctly uncomfortable with his boss's behavior. Mojo fought the urge to snort. _Good. He should be. He had no business entering his home like this uninvited and start demanding things from him. Now it was time to cut the impotent man down to size._

"Actually, I think not my good sir." Mojo replied sweetly as he leaned forward and pushed Kingston's elbows off of his desk, momentarily stunning the red-bearded man.

"N-no?" Kingston sputtered angrily as John slightly shrank back in his chair beside him. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"Well from what my eldest has said about your delightful daughter, she was very loud and disturbed my two other sons from their rest. Not to mention that she was apparently very rude to Miss. Blossom, the eldest daughter of my old colleague – and I do not take very well to that kind of behavior in my house-hold." Mojo replied flatly as he stared Kingston down. "If anything, you should be thanking my sons for putting her in her place. It is not fitting of a young lady with power to behave in such a manner similar to that of a tramp."

John's eyes bulged out of his head and his jaw went slack as he looked from Mojo to Kingston – the latter who had gone deadly silent as he processed what the smaller man had said to him. Mojo fought back the urge to laugh suddenly. Judging from John's reaction – the burly man didn't get spoken to like that very often.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Kingston finally croaked out a second later, the stunned expression on his face slowly morphing into anger. "What exactly did you just call my daughter?!"

"A tramp my good sir." Mojo relied calmly, ask John went as white as a ghost. "From what I have been told, she has not been acting as a proper lady should, and really needs to be put in her place – no thanks necessary Mr. Morbucks," Mojo held out a hand just as Kingston was about to open his mouth, "I am sure my sons did not mind informing her of her behavior. Better it be them instead of some high-ranking lord." Mojo sighed contentedly as he leaned back in his office chair.

"Now, I believe that it is fair of me to assume that there is an actual reason why the pair of you has shown up at my door unannounced, and not because you wish for my sons to give your daughter a petty apology that is really not necessary in the first place, yes?"

Kingston had turned beet red, and had just about to open his mouth to retort – or possibly bellow – only for John to quickly intervene before the situation escalated further. "Yes, yes Mojo there is I assure you – we wouldn't make the trip up here only to waste your time." He assured the smaller man as he placed a pacifying hand on Kingston's shoulder, forcing the agitated man back into his chair.

"Well then, do tell me what it is exactly. Is it more information concerning our little pest problem?" Mojo asked as he rose an eyebrow. John swallowed nervously as he tried to calm down his palpating heart. _It was now or never – he had to tell mojo about what Mitch had discovered… before there was any more casualties._

"Well Mojo, before Mitch was attacked, he came to see me regarding the beast attack on him and the other hunters last month." Mojo paused for the briefest of moments, before he finally nodded. "Did he now? What did he have to say?"

"A fair amount actually." John murmured as he laced his hands together in his lap. "He provided some insightful information as to what these things are… and honestly, I believe that he is correct. It would explain why we haven't been able to match these creatures to any animal before."

Mojo was stiff, but nodded regardless. "I see, well then – do share what he told you by all means-" he jerked his head in Kingston's direction. "Does he know what is going on?" John nodded. "I informed him this morning yes – I didn't see the point in withholding the information from him, after all Townsville is his current place of residence for the time being."

Mojo nodded and guested with his hand for John to continue, pointedly ignoring the furious looks that Kingston was giving him. John looked at his employer wearily before sighing.

"Now… before you say anything… please know that this is going to sound… rather out of the ordinary, but please just hear me out."

Both Mojo and Kingston waited patiently for John to collect his thoughts. The aging scientist looked down at his trembling hands and laced them together as he looked up to face his old lab partner.

"I'll tell you the same thing that I told Kingston this morning." John finally muttered as he rested his chin on his interlocked hands. "There's really no easy way for me to break this to you, so I'm just going to come out and say it."

He looked Mojo dead in the eye, and without a hint of emotion he said, "I have reason and evidence to believe that the beasts that are behind all of the killings are none other than Lycanthropes."

Mojo felt his eye widen in a mixture of shock and horror at the taller man's conclusion. _No. there was no way. How could he have figured it out so soon? He wasn't supposed to find out about the boys until the time was right!_

Mojo began to sweat. _Not now – the boys couldn't be discovered now. He had to somehow convince John that he was wrong, and buy his sons some more time._

The stout man quickly put his poker face back on as he laced his hands on the desk in front of him. "Oh." He finally managed to spit out as he tried to keep his composure from slipping. "and do tell John, just how _did_ you come to this conclusion?"

"Well, do you remember that silver talisman that I showed you? The one that was found on my brother's body?"

"Yes, yes I know the one, and how you also went to speak to those vile gypsy's on the outskirts of town. Did they not tell you the same thing? That is was supposedly a werewolf of all things, causing all of the deaths? Please tell me that you do not seriously think that-"

"It turns out that they were right all along." John cut in softly. "and I'm an idiot for not believing them before. But could you blame me? I wanted there to be a scientific reason behind this madness – not a beast that is supposedly from legend."

"Yes, because it is absolutely ridiculous?" Mojo supplied hopefully, only for John to shake his head. "No, I have too much evidence to suggest otherwise. I saw those things that very night then they attacked the campgrounds, but I still couldn't be sure what it was that I encountered… that was, until Mitch came to town, and solidified my fears."

"Mitch…" Mojo pretended to muse as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Isn't that the hunter that is originally from this town? I believe my boys knew of when they were children." John nodded in conformation. "Well then, if he's so sure that these creatures are indeed beasts from a fairytale, then where is he to help back up your claims?" he asked smugly, causing John to wince.

"Well that's the second part." John muttered. "Originally, he was going to be here to help me break the news to you, but…" he hesitated. _Did he even bother to tell Mojo about what had happened to the poor boy? He didn't seem to care about what he was telling him about the beasts – would he even care about the extent of Mitch's injuries that said monsters had caused?_

John bit the inside of his cheek before grinding out, "He was attacked this past full moon. By the same beasts. They've put him in the hospital and left him in a coma. I'm amazed that he's still alive honestly."

Mojo blinked. He hadn't heard of that from his sons. They had come back to the mansion that morning, covered in blood, claiming that the hunter had been "taken care of". Clearly, that was not the case.

"He's… still alive you say?" Mojo asked slowly. "Yes, but he's not going anywhere anytime soon." John muttered. "From what I was told, he almost died from blood loss on the way to the hospital, and those things took one of his arms. They don't know if he's ever going to wake up."

All three men sat in silence for a few moments as the implication of John's words hung suspended in the air. It was still for a few more minutes before John broke the silence.

"Even before this past full moon, he had gone to fight those things with a group of twelve or so other hunters – I'm sure you heard about that?" Mojo nodded. "I heard it is was a slaughter." John hummed absentmindedly.

"He saw them then too, and he was the only one who came back alive. That was when he told me about those things – about what they were. He told me how regular bullets didn't work on them… didn't even faze them… it was the special silver bullets that he had made that actually hurt them. Based on what little knowledge I possess on Lycanthropy, I know that the only thing that hurts them is silver."

He glanced up to look at the stone-faced Mojo. "Don't you see Mojo. These beasts are real… I don't know how they came to be or where they came from, but they are _real._ That's why we haven't been able to narrow down the attacks to any of the normal animals around these parts when we were going over the deceased records – it's because the wounds they inflicted wouldn't match any of the bite molds that belonged to the common animals around these parts… because they're not normal at all." He whispered softly.

"You know what the gypsy's I went to see said about the talisman that my brother had?" John asked suddenly, continuing before Mojo could open his mouth to respond. "They said that the particular talisman that he had on him was supposed to protect the wearer against evil creatures. I can't help but wonder if they meant the very monsters that are terrorizing this town."

He almost added that the gypsy's that he had gone to see were none other than Sudusa's nieces, but somehow, he didn't think that mentioning that particular bit of information would help the already icy situation, so he bit his tongue as he glared defiantly at Mojo.

"Originally Mitch was supposed to be here with me to help explain the situation to you, but seeing how he's indisposed at the moment – he couldn't make it." John muttered sourly. "I needed to tell you though. So that we could warn the townspeople and get them ready for the next full moon. Who knows what these things will do next time. We need to get the town ready for when they come back – and I strongly believe that they _will_ come back. And when they do, we'll be ready."

Mojo began to panic. Good lord if this information got out to the town and they armed themselves with silver – his boys wouldn't stand a chance, and judging from the look on John's face, the stout man knew he was serious too, and that he would not be swayed into thanking otherwise so easily. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the two men sitting on the other side of his desk. John was starting to become a much bigger that then he had anticipated, and he knew that he had to keep a calm composure as to not direct suspension onto him.

Right now, that was the last thing that he needed.

After a tense moment, Mojo let out a light laugh before looking to Kingston with an unpleasant gin on his face. "Can you believe this? Do not tell me that he told you the same story." Only for the while clad man to shrug coldly at the tiny man who had insulted him moments ago.

"He did, and I don't really know what to tell you. I've worked with John for a long time now, and he's not the one to simply come to this concision willy-nilly. He's always been strictly science. That and he's seen these things face to face. If anyone would know what these things are – it's him. I don't know if I think that these things are… werewolf's completely yet, but… this… beast theory is intriguing to say the least."

Mojo's smile dropped off his face at Kingston's words – clearly not expecting that reaction from the business man – before he quickly composed himself again and turned back to John.

"and does Mr. Michelson have any proof to his claims?" Mojo asked sternly. John stared at the shorter man agape. "Mojo he's fought the creatures – he's gone toe to toe with them _twice._ He should – by all accounts – be dead, but by some miracle, he managed to make it back the first time and tell me about what he witnessed out there – and he is quite sure of what he saw. There's really no mistaking this… especially when all of the evidence seems to be pointing in that direction anyway."

Mojo laughed suddenly. "John, my dear friend, you used to be a man of science – you never believed in the supernatural before. Now suddenly, you're willing to believe the wild accusations of a boy who is more dead than alive at the moment? What changed?"

"I'm willing to accept that sometimes not all answers to our questions can be explained by silence alone. Sometimes there are darker forces at work." John relied stiffly as Kingston shot him a curious look – having never seen this side of his top scientist before.

John paused as he took a deep breath in and glared at the man sitting behind the desk. "After all, you should know that better than anyone else here."

The room fell deadly silent as the two men stared each other down – neither daring to blink. Finally, Mojo sat back in his desk chair and folded his hands in front of him on his desk, with what John could only describe as an almost threatening look on his face.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Mojo said coolly. "But you were just as eager to explore the unknown as I was back in the day, or have you forgotten that?"

John ignored Kingston's baffled expression as he looked between him to Mojo again and again, unable to pick one man to focus on. He shook his head slowly. "That was a long time ago Mojo. I learned from my mistakes. I realized that there are things that don't always require a scientific explanation." He looked at the smaller man sitting across from him with hooded eyes.

"There are somethings that are better left forgotten… unexplained. Things that should never be tampered with. I hoped that you learned that too."

An unpleased silence filled the room as both men locked themselves into a staring contest with each other, neither daring to blink, as Kingston looked on in disbelieve – still confused as to what the former business partners were talking about. Finally, it was Mojo who broke the connection first. He sighed and looked away for a moment, before looking back at the two men sitting across from him – looking as if he was going to say something in response.

Before the smaller man could reply, there was the sound of a commotion outside of the door leading into his office, followed by a small knock on the door.

Blossom watched Brick slowly pace around the living room from her spot on the couch that she had taken residence on.

After they had left the seemingly forgotten room behind them, Brick had led then back to the living room where they had been previously, and had been pacing around the room in a seemingly agitated state ever since.

Blossom inwardly winced. She hadn't meant to upset him with her questions about his mother, but she had heard so little about the woman, that she was interested to know more about her – but she hadn't counted on his reaction.

"Brick, again I'm so sorry about asking you about your mother. I truly didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway-"

"Don't worry Blossom, you couldn't have known. It's only natural for you to be curious." Brick stopped her. "I wish I had more answers for you, but I don't know them myself." He stopped in the middle of the room and turned to look at her, appearing calmer than before.

"Still though, it wasn't my intention to pry. That's your mother, that's your business." Blossomed turned her eyes downcast as she fisted the fabric of her dress in her hands. On one hand, she wanted to know more about Sudusa, but she now knew better then to ask the members of the Jojo family. Perhaps her own mother could provide her with some more answers…

Brick hummed, letting her know that he heard her as he moved over to sit with her on the sofa with her. "Anyways, moving on from that…" his deep red eyes born into her soft pink ones. "Have you thought about my offer?"

Blossom fought back the flush that threated to tint her pale cheeks. _Ah yes… she still had to give him an answer. She couldn't avoid the question forever._

"Ah well…" Blossom hesitated as she glanced down at her lap. "Say that I did say yes-" Brick perked up almost immediately. "That's not an actual yes, sorry." Blossom quickly clarified, watching as his face settled back into an annoyed state. "Say that I did though, what would happen afterwards? Have you truly thought that far ahead?"

"You would stay here, at the estate with myself and my family." Brick responded smoothly. "I'm set to inherit this place with my brothers when my father passes, it's not like we wouldn't have a place to stay." He shot her a sideways look. "If you're asking me whether or not I can provide for you, then I can assure you I can-"

"No, it's not that." Blossom waved him away. "I'm sure that you can. It's just… I was more or less wondering about your plans in the future." She looked at him shyly. "You still haven't answered _my_ question."

"and what would that be?"

"Why _do_ you want to marry me?" Blossom asked quietly as she shifted in place on the couch so that she was facing him. "and why do your brothers want to marry my sisters? …Or well… at least Butch for that matter, but I've seen the way Boomer looks at Bubbles and I can tell that he's quite found of her."

"I thought I already told you?" Brick asked, looking slightly puzzled, prompting Blossom to roll her eyes. "If you mean that… confusing exchange when Princess was over here, then I suppose you did." She crinkled her nose as she thought back to the very moment that had led them to this. "But I'm still confused by that. What did you mean when you said all those things? I understand that it's a smaller town yes, and that girls are… married of at an earlier age then most other places, but there was something else you said-"

"What? The part about me wanting to be with you over some other lady who I know nothing about? Wouldn't you rather be with someone who you know over some stranger?" Brick's eyebrow rose.

"But we haven't seen each other since we were children!" Blossom weakly protested, "and no that's not it-"

"I still know you better than all other noble woman who come seeking a partner." Brick argued lightly. "I understand we haven't seen each other since we were young children, but we still have history together – which is more than I can say for some people-"

"That's it!" Blossom snapped her fingers, as Brick's words jogged her memory. "You mentioned that I was… "promised" to you? I'm not going to pretend that I understood what you meant by that."

Brick felt the words he was about to say die on his tongue, as what he said to her that day came back to him.

 _Idiot. He was an idiot. That minor slip of the tongue could have cost him everything. Thankfully, it didn't appear that Blossom or her sisters remembered much of their time together as children like he and his brothers did._

 _Of course, he'd still have to break it to her with the time came, but for now… what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her._

"I… I think I had meant to say something else, but that came out instead." Brick chucked nervously. "I was more or less trying to make a point about the marriageable ages in Townsville… I think… I'm not quite sure what I said to be honest with you." He lied, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Besides," Brick continued, catching her disbelieving look. "You and your sisters will be twenty in what? April, I think it was? My brothers and I will be twenty soon after that. We'll need to take spouses soon for ah… certain reasons." He sighed as an almost startled look passed over Blossoms face. "Look, if it'll make you feel better, I can see about taking to your father about you becoming my bride. Even though the choice is ultimately up to you. You thankfully, have more of a say in who becomes your partner then most other girls." Brick sighed in defeat.

He really didn't have to want to talk to that dreaded man about asking his daughter's hand – knowing full well what his answer would be before even asking, but it seemed like the only way that Blossom would ever fully agree to be his, would be if he got permission from her father.

Brick tried to keep the cruel smirk that threated to creep across his face down.

 _Who was he kidding? If it really came down to it – he would simply take care of him the way he did all the others. Blossom would be his and he_ always _got what he wanted. The same went for his brothers to her sisters._

He glanced out the window behind Blossom and out into the white-capped world beyond the mansion, lost in thought.

 _He had to convince her to stay with him willingly, and soon. Butch was right: they were running out of time. A few more moons were all they had left at most… and then hell truly would be unleashed. The only way he could protect her is if she was his, the same went with her sisters and his brothers. It was the only way they could keep them safe, it was the only way-_

"Brick? Are you alright? You zoned out of a moment."

Brick was snapped back to the present upon hearing Blossom's voice. "I'm fine." He assured her gruffly as he brushed off her concerns. "Don't worry about me." Blossom looked unconvinced but nodded regardless.

"If you wouldn't mind talking to my father," she started off softly, as she twisted several strands of her soft ginger hair around her fingers delicately, "I would appreciate it. I would feel better about the whole situation knowing that I had his approval."

Brick sighed inwardly. Well, that was that. He already knew what the older man's response would be, so he would simply have to… persuade him otherwise.

But not today… No – he would save that discussion for another day. One where the professor wasn't so tense, and when he himself wasn't in such rough shape. Perhaps after the upcoming full moon…

He looked at Blossom who beamed at him lightly as she reached over and gave his wrist a squeeze. _The things he was willing to do to keep her at his side…_

 _The question was: would she be so willing to stay with him after finding out what he and his brothers were?_

He wasn't so sure.

He gently flipped his hand so his palm was facing upwards and took her hand in his own. "Look, Blossom… I wish I could tell you more about my family, but there's somethings that you need to understand about-"

He cut himself off as the sudden sound of running footsteps from the hallway leading into the living room, echoed towards them. Blossom seemed to hear them as well as she looked up from their intertwined hands, looking confused.

"What is that?"

"I don't know." Brick replied honestly as his eyes narrowed, trying to determine who the footsteps belonged to. "It doesn't sound like either of my brothers."

The footsteps drew closer and closer to where they were seated, until Buttercup suddenly appeared in the doorway, looking flushed and… scared?

Blossom perked up immediately upon seeing the nervous look on her sister's face. Buttercup hardly ever wore that look – something was wrong. Her normally tanned looking sister looked pale and out of breath, almost as if she had just run a marathon. Blossom squinted her eyes and peered into the hallway past her, half expecting to see the middle Jojo brother standing behind her, only to notice that she was alone. Speaking of, where exactly _was_ Butch?

As soon as her vibrant green eyes landed on her, Buttercup immediately strode over to where she was sitting, and latched onto her sister's arm with a vice grip.

"We need to get out of here. _Now."_ Buttercup hissed as she tugged Blossom up off of the couch and away from Brick, despite his sputtered protesting. "What- Buttercup, what's gotten into you? What's wrong?" the pale woman whispered as she freed her hand from her sister's tight grasp.

"Not now, where's Bubbles?" Buttercup muttered as she looked around the room frantically, her eyes wide. "…She went with Boomer, I'm not sure where they went… Buttercup what's going on?"

"No time to explain. Somethings wrong here, really wrong. We need to get dad and Morbucks and get out of here." Buttercup hissed as she dragged Blossom farther away from Brick. "Where did Bubbles take off too?"

"She went that way I think…" Blossom muttered as she pointed to a hallway that led in the direction of Mojo's office. "Buttercup seriously you're scaring me, what happened." Buttercup dragged her down the hallway, farther away from Brick, before tossing a look over her shoulder and muttering. "I can't say much, but something wired is going on. We need to find Bubbles fast, because I don't think we're safe here."

Blossom felt her eyes widen at her ebony haired sister's words. "Buttercup what-"

"I'll explain when we leave here and get back home. Please Blossom, just trust me on this one." Blossom almost froze at the sound of her sister pleading. She took one look at Buttercup's pale face and nodded once. "Alright. Let's find Bubbles and see of papa's ready to go yet, but I want a full explanation when we get home, understood?" she asked sternly as Buttercup simply nodded. "I promise."

Blossom shot her a concerned look but said nothing as they continued to make their way down the long, dark hallway. The sound of Brick's confused calls echoing from the other end of the hall. "Where's Butch?" The rose orbed woman finally managed to ask – having noticed that they massive onyx-haired man had not been with Buttercup when she had returned – only for Buttercup to grimace.

"Hopefully still where I left him." she growled darkly. "I don't want to be anywhere near him." Blossom's light pink lips drew into a tight line. "Oh god… what happened this time? Did you manage to find something out?"

"I think so. Something that I shouldn't." Buttercup growled dangerously. "Something's not adding up with these boys – I'll tell you later." She added quickly upon seeing Blossom's surprised face.

"Blossom? Buttercup? Where are you two going? What's wrong?" Both girls simptianiusly turned around as Brick jogged up to them with confusion written across his handsome features. "Is everything alright?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow at them.

"Ah yes." Blossom responded with a light flush as she cast a look towards Buttercup expectantly, only to see the onyx haired girl look any _but_ at Brick. "Buttercup just isn't feeling well at the moment, and she would like to go home to rest." Brick glanced over at Buttercup with a neutral expression on his face as he looked her up and down carefully.

"You do look a little pale." The tall man confirmed after a moment. "You're more than welcome to lie down in one of the guest rooms until your father and his associate finish their meeting with my father. Butch can show you to one of the upstairs rooms – wherever he is at the moment-"

"NO!"

Buttercup yelped before she could stop herself, causing both ginger haired adults to look at her in alarm. She quickly composed herself and cleared her throat with a semi-sheepish smile. "I mean, thank you for the offer Brick, but I really don't want to inconvenience you. I really just want to go lie down in my own bed."

Brick's ruby red eyes narrowed slightly and he looked as if he was about to argue for a moment, but shook his head at the last second. "Well, if that's the way you feel, I suppose I can't stop you. Are you sure that you don't want take me up on my offer?"

"It's very kind of you, and I apricate it, but I would really prefer to lie down in my own bed." Buttercup smiled at the taller male through slightly gritted teeth. "But thank you for your… hospitality."

Brick eyed the girl again but didn't say anything in response, leaving Blossom to nervously switch her rose orbs from her sister to the slightly intimidating man standing across from her. She cleared her throat lightly, turning both of their attentions on her. "I don't suppose you happen to know which room Boomer took Bubbles to?" she asked Brick gently, causing the boy to shrug. "Knowing him, probably one of the drawing rooms past my father's office." He brushed past the two sisters gently and beckoned them to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you."

Blossom quietly followed after him, tugging a more hesitant Buttercup along after her, as they followed Brick farther down the dark hallway before coming to stop at a closed door at the very end. Pressing an ear against it, he looked back and nodded at Blossom and Buttercup. "Your sister's in there." He informed them softly.

Sure enough, both girls could hear muffled voices from the other side of the door – one belonging to Bubbles, and the other one belonging to Boomer. Brick raised a hand and knocked on the door, causing the pair of voices to hush. A second later the door swung open and Boomer stood in the door frame with a slightly irritated look on his face. "What?" he almost snapped, noticing Brick standing in front of him.

Brick only raised a brow. "Hello to you too." He rumbled calmly. "I need to borrow Bubbles from you." Boomer looked confused. "Why? What's going on?"

"Her sister isn't feeling well, and would like to collect her so that they can leave soon." Brick informed him as he cast a shadowed look at Buttercup that let her know that he wasn't buying her bluff. She hoped that he couldn't see her shudder.

"Her sister isn't feeling well?" Boomer repeated, "What's the problem-"

"Who isn't feeling well?" A light voice came from behind the lanky blonde man, and suddenly Bubbles was gently pushing past him to see what was going on, only to see her older sisters standing outside the door with Brick. "Hello girls, are you feeling sick?"

"You could say that." Buttercup muttered as she beckoned for Bubbles to come stand with them. The smaller blonde raised an eyebrow, but moved past Boomer to stand with them regardless. "What's wrong?" she whispered to her, only for Buttercup to shake her head. "Not here, I'll tell you when we get home." she muttered back, as Bubbles looked at Blossom for clarification, only for the eldest girl to shrug.

Brick cleared his throat, gaining their attention. "Right then, I'm assuming that we should see if your father and his… patron are able to leave, I suppose." He grumbled sourly, nodding back down the hallway where Mojo's office was.

As the group approached the large double doors leading into the office, they heard voices emanating from the office that sounded a mix between irritated and scared, that started to taper off as they drew nearer to the office.

Boomer glanced at Brick. "Do you want to knock, or should I?"

"You can knock. That way of it's a bad time, they'll bite your head off instead of mine." Brick flashed the lean blonde a winning smile, as Boomer rolled his eyes, muttering something that sounded along the lines of _cowered,_ under his breath as he raised his fist and rapped on the door – causing the argument inside to hush suddenly.

A second passed, before the door was abruptly opened by none other than Kingston, who all but glared at Boomer. "Oh, it's you. What do you want boy?"

"I'm actually here to collect you and John if that's alright with you." Boomer shot back coolly, unfazed by Kingston's displeasure. "Buttercup apparently isn't feeling well and requests to go home."

"Buttercup isn't feeling well?" John's voice echoed from farther back in the room, and Kingston begrudgingly stepped aside so that John had a clear view of his children who were huddled outside of the office door.

"No papa, she'd really like to go home and rest." Blossom spoke up in her dark-haired sister's defense. "I'm sorry if we're interrupting anything, we can wait outside if you'd like-"

"Actually, perfect timing girls, I've said all that I need to say to this… man." Kingston grumbled as he shot a pointed look over his shoulder to where Mojo was sitting contently behind his desk. "Are you sure?" Blossom asked. "If you're in the middle of something, we don't mind waiting a few extra minutes."

"No, that's alright girls." John sighed tiredly as he rose from his chair. "I've said everything that I came here to say anyways." He nodded at Mojo. "Well, I've told you everything that I possibly can regarding the situation. I hope that you'll at least think about what I've said."

"As will I to you." Mojo replied as he slid off his desk chair and made his way around the large oak desk. "I urge you to reconsider what these beasts are. Your explanation is bordering on the brink of ludicrousy."

John saw the confused looks spreading across each of his daughter's faces, and shook his head at them, silently telling them that now was not a good time to explain what had transpired. He made his way past Kingston look give Buttercup a concerned once over. "Hrm… well, you do look pale," he mused gently as he pressed the back of his hand to his middle daughter's head. "What's wrong? Is your stomach bothering you?"

"Just feeling nauseous, sorry dad." Buttercup meekly replied, refusing to meet his eye. "Sorry for dragging you out of your meeting."

"That's alright hun, I had nothing left to say anyways." John sighed as he glanced over at Kingston, who still looked like he was fuming silently. "You interrupted at a good time," he assured them quietly, "I don't know how much longer Kingston could have taken Mojo for."

"Well come along then," Mojo stated abruptly as the stout little man pushed past all of them to get into the hallway. "If you really must insist on leaving so soon, then allow us to see you out." he gestured to Boomer and Brick. "Come along boys, we cannot be seen as rude hosts." Behind them, the girls heard Kingston muffle a snort.

Mojo and the boys lead the group back to the mansion's front foyer and silently helped them retrieve their coats and boots.

"It was very nice to see you again." Bubbles told Boomer with a gentle smile, only for lanky male to return it with one of his own. "It's always a pleasure Bubbles, come back anytime you'd like – same goes for your sisters." He nodded politely at Blossom and Buttercup.

"That's very kind of you to say, thank you." Blossom gave the blue clad man a small bow as she turned to offer a slightly forced smile to Brick. "and Brick thank you again. Sorry if I caused you any trouble." Only for the crimson eyed male to shake his head. "I told you, it's fine – it was probably going to come up sooner or later. Don't worry too much about it."

Boomer glanced over his shoulder. "Where's Butch? That idiot should come say goodbye if you're leaving. I know he doesn't have the best manners but-"

"NO, NO, that's alright." Buttercup quickly spoke up with a nervous laugh. "I'm sure he's busy doing something at the moment. Wouldn't want to disturb him!" she lied breathlessly as she laced her hands together behind her back. Both Brick and Boomer shot her a disbelieving look.

"What the hell is he doing-"

"That's quite alright boys, Butch doesn't have to come out if he's preoccupied." John assured them with a weak smile. "I'm sure we'll see him at another point in time anyways."

His sudden change in demeanor did not go unnoticed by Buttercup, and she narrowed her dark brows. _Every time the boys and her father had an exchange of any kind, he was always nervous around them for seemingly no reason._ She thought to herself privately. _"Something happened between them… something that dad hasn't told us about…_

The ink haired girl made a mental note to herself to ask her father about it later, when they were out of the Jojo's presence. Something told her that asking him now would be entirely inappropriate.

She looked back over at the two brothers who were present, only to notice that they had their eyes trained on her – almost as if they could see through the facade that she was putting up.

She dropped her bright eyes down to the ground so they couldn't see her own harden. _That was fine. It didn't matter if they saw through her façade… she was starting to see through theirs…_

"Well if you ladies have your things together, I'm more the willing to leave now." The deep, irritated voice belonging to Kingston cut across her thoughts. She looked over at her father's patron, only to see him wearing an angry scowl as he made no attempt to mask the glare on his face as he stared daggers at the Jojo family.

She glanced between him and Mojo, only to see the shorter man wearing something along the lines of a content smirk oh his lips. _Just what had the man said to Kingston to get him so riled up?_

Blossom gave her shoulder a light nudge as she whispered, "Do you see that?" Buttercup nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, wonder what happened." She replied quietly – not sounding particularly interested.

"I don't know." Blossom murmured. "I suppose we'll find out later though." Buttercup hummed in agreement and cast her eyes downward again. Blossom studied her for a moment before tapping Bubbles. "Are you ready to leave?" the blonde nodded before whispering. "I don't understand, why are we leaving so early? Buttercup wasn't sick this morning. Has she said anything to you?"

Blossom shook her head and whispered back. "I don't know what's gotten into her. She said she'd explain when we got back home though." Bubbles looked conflicted for a moment, before she nodded solemnly, letting Blossom know that she understood the odd situation that they were currently presented with.

A slight cough that sounded dangerously close to a chuckle from Mojo, brought their attention back to the shorter man, who looked as if he was trying hard to fight back a grin as he regarded all of them.

"Well then. I suppose it is time for you and your family to go John. I would not want to make your benefactor any more disgruntled then he already is." The small man made no attempt to hide the grin that was spreading across his lips as he eyed the now-furious looking red-bearded man. "I have some other business to attend to right now. Boys? Can you see them out in my stead?"

"Sure pops." Boomer sighed as he moved forward, seemingly not bothered by the angry glare that Kingston was casting at him and Brick. He held out his hand for Bubbles to take and led her outside down the slightly icy steps, as Brick did the same with Blossom – pausing to offer his other hand to Buttercup, who only cringed and looked away, proceeding to hold onto her father's hand instead. John shot his middle daughter a quizzical look at her unorthodox behavior, but shrugged and let it go.

"And John?" Mojo called out, causing the older man to turn his head and look back at the silhouette of the ape-like man further down the hallway.

"Be careful." Mojo cautioned. "I wouldn't go spreading… _that_ around the town. Who knows the amount of trouble that one might get into making those assumptions."

The silence roared in John's ears for a moment as he stared the man down – trying to determine whither or not his former partner had issued him a threat or a warning. Mojo smiled sinisterly at him – his white teeth standing out against his shadowed form – making them seem oddly sharp. "Have a good day John… think about what I said." And with that, he disappeared down the hallway, leaving him and Buttercup standing in an empty foyer.

John stiffened, and tightened his grip on Buttercup's hand. "We'll see about that." He muttered under his breath, before he quickly tuned on his heel and marched down the steps towards Kingston's awaiting carriage, nearly dragging a silent Buttercup out of the house along with him.

He quickly herded Buttercup into the carriage with minimal protest from the lime eyed girl after Kingston, before stepping in himself and taking a seat next to him. Leaning forward to look out of the door, he saw Blossom and Bubbles talking quietly with Brick and Boomer – most likely apologizing for leaving so abruptly.

John leaned forward a little farther as he strained to hear what they were saying, only to freeze up as he saw the looks that the brothers were giving his daughters.

He watched on in horrified fascination as he saw just how fixated both boys seemed to be on his daughters. They never took their eyes off of either of them – they hardly even seemed to blink while the girls were speaking to them. It was then, while he was looking at them – staring deep into their ruby and sapphire eyes respectively – that something seemed to click in John's mind.

There was something in their eyes… something vaguely familiar… something… almost… _primal._

John shook himself, snapping himself out of the trance he had fallen into. _No… it couldn't be. The situation surrounding the boys birth was still hazy and unclear to him, and he always knew that something wasn't quite right about them, but they couldn't be… there was no way… it was just his mind playing tricks on him…_

 _Yes. That's all it was. Just his over tired, over active imagination playing tricks on him._

"Girls, we need to leave. Finish saying goodbye to the boys and let's go – we don't want to keep Kingston waiting now!" John croaked out, finally finding his voice again after a slight pause. Brick and Boomer glanced up irritably at him as he spoke, just as Blossom and Bubbles turned to face him – causing both girls missing the fierce looks that the brothers were giving him.

"Oh of course papa." Bubbles chirped as she shot Boomer an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Boomer, but we really have to get going. Thank you once again for the lovely hospitality… and thank you for helping me catch up on a few things."

Boomer only chuckled as he brought her dainty hand to his lips and pressed a small kiss to it as he helped her up into the carriage. "Not at all Bubbles. It was my pleasure. If there's anything you want to know from when we were younger, all you have you have to do is ask – I'll be more than willing to tell you." The lanky blonde promptly ignored the shady glare that Brick sent his way at his offer – opting to maintain eye contact with the smaller blonde.

Bubbles beamed at him as she sat down next to Buttercup, who moved over for her without a word. "I'll be sure to take you up on that offer then, thank you Boomer." The blonde man only smiled at her as he stepped back lightly, allowing his older brother to help Blossom up as well.

Blossom hoisted herself into the large carriage and slowly turned around in the doorway to look at Brick with a polite nod – noting that he hadn't let go of her hand yet. "It was a pleasure as always Brick. " she smiled slightly, trying to ignore the conflicting emotions that were bubbling up inside her concerning the information Brick had told her about his elusive family. "Thank you for having us on such short notice."

"I'll see you soon Blossom… keep out of trouble now." Brick rumbled as he released her hand. Blossom nodded stiffly and slowly climbed into the carriage after her baby sister. "Good bye Brick… I suppose I'll see you soon?" she asked softly as she sat down beside her sisters. Brick nodded as he shut the door behind her gently.

"Yes… sooner than later." He muttered deep in his throat, casing a side-long glance at Boomer, who returned it with a conflicted look of his own.

Brick rapped on the side of the carriage – signaling for the driver to depart. The man flicked the reigns with a shrill whistle, and the team of horse took off down the lane leading back to Townsville, pulling the carriage along after it – leaving the boys to stare after it.

The brother's watched as the carriage made its way out of their property, taking their claims with it unhappily. Boomer let a whine escape his throat, that sounded suspiciously similar to a dog's as he flexed his hands. "They're asking more and more questions about us." He finally muttered as Brick cocked an eyebrow in his direction. "They all are – even Bubbles. She was asking me questions about when we were kids. Apparently she's been having these dreams about when we were children– I didn't tell her about... anything important." He added quickly, seeing Brick's blood red eyes widen in shock. "I just validated what she told me. He dreams and what she remembers from them are innocent enough."

"Does she know?" Brick asked calmly. Boomer shook his head slowly, averting his eyes from his older brothers.

"No. She doesn't know about what we are. She remembers very little from that time period… which is probably for the best." He muttered the last bit, before jerking his head at his older brother. "What about Blossom? Has she been asking?"

"She doesn't know." Brick muttered as he closed his eyes. "Not about us at least. She was asking about our family though."

"Oh?" Boomer fidgeted nervously. "Like, about us, or dad-"

"No, she was asking about mum of all people." Brick growled venomously, causing a flash of pain to appear on Boomer's face at the mention of the woman. As quick as the anguish had appeared, it was gone in the next second, as Boomer reverted back to his normal passive expression.

"and… what did you tell her?" he asked carefully, watching as a muscle in Brick's jaw clenched.

"The truth. I have no idea where she is, and that she's never coming back." Brick replied gruffly as he crossed his arms. "No point in lying to her about that. She's long gone."

Boomer was quiet for a moment before he timidly murmured, "She might come back-"

Brick laughed, a harsh, cruel sound, stopping Boomer from finishing his sentence. "That's a joke Boomer. She's _never_ going to come back here. She vanished first chance she got. As much as I hate dad, at least he stuck around." His eyes narrowed. "I don't see why you cared for her so much. She hated- no feared… no… she _despised us."_ Brick snarled as he struggled to find the proper words.

"You can't blame her for feeling like that." Boomer protested weakly. "We're not exactly perfect children either… and she was kind… or at least… she could be."

Brick laughed again, but the sound was far from pleasant. "To you maybe. But when she looked at Butch and I, all she could see was monsters."

"Well… neither of you gave her a reason to think differently."

The silence roared in Boomer's ears, as Brick fell deadly silent. He struggled to stand his ground as he made the mistake of looking up at Brick, only to see a murderous look written across his face, as he stared him down furiously – his crimson eyes dilating rapidly until his iris was swallowed into a black abyss.

For one long, horrible moment – Boomer was afraid that Brick would lose control and sink his teeth into his neck – god knew he would – he had seen him do it to other unfortunate victim's countless times before.

Finally, Brick blinked, allowing his eyes to return to normal. He scoffed at his baby brother before turning back to look back at the carriage, which was nothing more than a speck on the horizon.

"Maybe. Maybe she truly just hated us, and hid it around you a little better."

The worst part – Boomer thought about that statement – was that he knew that he couldn't argue the point his elder brother had made. Instead or replying, he also opted to watch the carriage disappear completely from view – letting his silence speak for himself.

A slight shuffling noise behind them indicated that Butch had decided to join them on the terrace.

Boomer turned his head to the side as Butch slowly made his way down the stairs to stand beside him. He watched with mild interest as his older brother ran a hand through his obsidian spikes nervously with a muffled sigh – refusing to make eye contact with either of them, as the muscles under his left eye jumped.

Boomer narrowed his eyes upon seeing his brother's nervous ticks. It was a clear indicator that he was bothered by something, and that in itself was troubling – Butch didn't normally showcase if something bothered him openly – whatever was eating him now, it wasn't good.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, shifting his cobalt gaze from the disappearing carriage, to his darker sibling. Butch flinched as Boomer addressed him, causing him to ruffle his hair again, before turning his attention to his feet.

"I might have fucked up." Butch managed to get out though gritted teeth.

Boomer felt his eyes widen. "What?" he asked. "What do you mean 'you might have fucked up'?"

Brick flicked his head to the side to glare at them so fast, Boomer was surprised that he didn't get whiplash. "Yes do enlighten me Butch. Care to explain to Boomer and I what you mean by you might have fucked up?"

Butch winced. "I said something I shouldn't have."

This time Bric's own eyes widened. "Butch I swear to god, if you told Buttercup anything about our little secret then I'll split you open myself-"

"No, I didn't. It was nothing like that." Butch interrupted, waving him off with one hand as he used the other to rub at his temples. "Did you actually propose to her or something?" Boomer asked as he rose an eyebrow.

"No, not that either." Butch replied in a strained voice.

"Then what did you say to her?" Brick almost snarled, his blood red irises flashing dangerously.

"I FUCKED UP AND TOLD HER ABOUT MITCH'S ARM." Butch roared as he turned to fully face them, breathing hard and red in the face – his lips drawn back into a wolfish snarl, effectively stunning his brothers.

Boomer wrinkled his nose in confusion. "I don't understand. Wouldn't she already know about that? I thought that she and Mitch were friends or something. I assumed that they would already know about what we did to him by now."

"No that's just it. I slipped and told her certain details about what happened that night that the rest of the town doesn't know about – only them, and she caught on." Butch moaned, as he buried his buried his head in his hands. "That includes what arm I ripped off when I was trying to get him to stop poisoning Brick with that fucking silver. I didn't even realize I had done it until she pointed it out, and it was too late at that point."

Brick was silent for a moment before quietly asking, "I'm assuming that the rest of the town has no idea about what really happened to him?" Butch shook his head as he slicked back his hair. "From what Buttercup was saying, no. Apparently, they're keeping it very quiet – only her family and Mitch's grandmother know the full extent of his injuries – they don't want the town to descend farther into madness."

"Well I think it's a bit late for that." Boomer muttered. "The town's been going to hell ever since the mayor died. If the town finds out about Mitch, it might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back."

"We won't have to worry about them for much longer." Brick sighed. "We're so close to our goal. Just a few more moons and it will all be over."

"That's fine but what about the girls?" Boomer challenged. "Yeah. At this rate, Butters is going to figure out something's amiss – she and her sisters have already been asking questions, I don't know for how much longer we can keep avoiding it." Butch added bitterly.

"and even if it's not her, I have a feeling Bubbles and Blossom will figure it out soon enough as well." Boomer sighed. "We can't keep this a secret for much longer Brick, surely you have to see that. They're going to find out a lot sooner than we expected."

"Yeah, and when they do find out – and they will eventually." Butch added as he saw Brick open his mouth, "They're going to hightail it out of here before we can explain. Not that they'd be interested in hearing it at that point… Point is, they'll never stay."

Brick was silent before he inhaled deeply. "Well then, I suppose you'll just have to give them a reason to stay." He glared pointedly at his brothers, watching as Boomer and Butch shifted uncomfortably.

"… They'll never agree." Boomer finally muttered after a moment. "Not after they see what we really are. They'll never agree to stay willingly-"

"Who said anything about them staying willingly?" Brick challenged, causing a heavy silence to descend on the brothers as they entered a stare down with each other.

"That's kidnapping." Butch pointed out finally. "Not if we're in-laws." Brick pointed out coolly.

"So you're going to force Blossom to marry you then? That's excellent Brick, that's a great way to charm woman." Boomer snapped sarcastically, causing Brick to roll his eyes.

"I won't be forcing her to do anything, she's almost there on her own." He bit back. "and if you two don't screw anything else up-" he glowed at his brothers, "-then I can probably get her to agree by next month."

"and if that doesn't work what are you going to do?" Boomer asked, narrowing his deep blue eyes at his elder sibling. Brick broke eye contact with him to gaze off into the horizon, where the rest of Townsville lay – where the object of his obsession lived.

"They're not leaving Townsville ever again." He murmured softly. "We can't let them leave – we have to protect them… even if they hate us in the end. They'll just have to learn to live with it."

"They're going to have to – considering they don't have any other choices." Butch grumbled under his breath. Brick only sighed, allowing a puff of steam to escape from his mouth at his comment. "We've been over this already Butch, you agreed with me. It's the only way to keep them safe."

The dark-haired brute lowered his head. "I know." He confirmed softly. "Boomer, you too." Brick added as he finally redirected his attention back to his youngest brother. Boomer stiffened before letting out a defeated sigh. "I get it. I just… Wish we had more time."

Brick let out a bitter laugh. "It's like I told Butch: time has never been on our side. Now, it's even less so then before." Boomer's gaze hardened. "Don't I know it." he growled to himself as he looked back at the horizon where he could see the faint outline of Townsville in the distance.

 _Ah, Townsville – the origin of their family's misery. It would continue to exist for a little while longer, but the town's days were numbered. The townspeople and their dreams would soon die along with it, and he and his brothers were the reapers._

Boomer absentmindedly traced over the ugly scar on his thigh from when Mitch had shot him with sliver. Soon, their lives as they knew it would come to an end, and darkness would be upon them.

And no one would be alive to stop them.

* * *

The ride back to the manor was silent except for the muffled clopping of hooves from outside the carriage. John couldn't help by glance nervously between his daughters. Blossom was staring straight ahead with an unreadable expression on her face, Bubbles was staring out the window tracing shapes on the glass absentmindedly, and Buttercup had her eyes trained on her feet with her hands fisted tightly in her lap, not saying a word.

John began to sweat lightly. He didn't know what had happened while he and Kingston were preoccupied with Mojo, but he could tell that something had upset his children.

Looking up at Kingston's seething form, he knew immediately that it would be unwise to ask his daughters what was bothering them in his presence – the man was barely keeping it together as it was.

Still though, he couldn't afford for him to be angry about the way that Mojo had talked to him – too much was at stake as it was, and he couldn't have his patron and possibly one of the only people who believed his theories about the beast's somewhat, furious at one of his former colleagues. He had to try and mend the situation somehow, but knowing Kingston as he did – he already knew that it would be easier said than done.

"Ah Kingston?" he tried timidly, causing the dark eyed man to look up and stare at him coldly.

John sighed inwardly. _Well, he'd have to lay on the apologies thick._

"Kingston, I am so sorry about what happened with Mojo back there." He started off, causing the other man to scoff quietly. "If I had known that he was going to speak to you like that I would have reprimanded him immediately. He's usually much more… mild-mannered then that, I can assure you – but admittedly, he's not always the easiest person to get along with in the world I'm afraid." Kingston let out an audible snort at that.

"I'll say, was he like that when you were both working together back in the day?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, his gold-plated rings gleaming in the carriages dim light.

John slowly nodded. "Regretfully yes. I confess that I got used to it after a while. He really is a brilliant man… sometimes a bit unorthodox, but brilliant none the less. If he wasn't, I wouldn't have put up with him for as long as I did."

"Indeed… Why exactly did you stop working with him, might I ask? I don't believe you ever told me the reason why?" Kingston rumbled, causing Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles, to look towards him expectantly as well.

A cold sweat washed over John, chilling him to his very core. _No… they couldn't know. No one could ever know the real reason why he had cut off all communications with Mojo years ago. The girls especially couldn't know. It appeared to him that they couldn't remember, and he intended to keep it that way. The less they knew about that family the better…_

"We… had a conflict of interests… and ethics, one could say." John muttered darkly as he looked away. "I couldn't be a part of what he wanted to do anymore."

Kingston looked mildly interested, and looked as if he was going to ask the graying man to explain himself, but instead he only nodded and looked back out the window. "I see. Well, perhaps you can tell be more about is some other time then, we have arrived back at your home."

Sure enough, the Bellum manor was slowly pulling up into view in front of them. John breathed a sigh of relief. _Not a moment too soon…_

The carriage pulled up in front of the large stone building and John opened the door, signaling for his quiet daughters to get out. The three girls left the carriage and made their way toward the front door, leaving him alone with Kingston. John looked back into the dark carriage and gave him an apologetic look.

"Once again Kingston, I am very sorry about what happened the afternoon. I hope that you will accept my deepest apologies, and that I hope that this doesn't effect anything between us." He told the sitting man sincerely. Kingston merely waved him away. "It's quiet alright John, I can't expect you to control your partners behavior, though I trust that it won't happen again in the future." The red bearded man gave him a stern look and John nodded.

"I'll talk to him and let him know that his comments were out of line." He promised. "Thank you, Kingston… it's nice to know that someone believes me and doesn't think I'm going mad."

The burly, white-clad man hummed. "I will admit that it does sound… extraordinary to the average person, but you've seen them up close and so has this Mitch lad, so I'm willing to take a gamble on it, and believe what you say." He looked at John with hooded eyes. "After all, if they really are what you say they are… I would be more then interested to catch them and

"C-catch them?" John sputtered, taken aback. "Kingston, I don't think that's a good idea – hunters have tried in the past and every attempt had failed thus far. Besides, those things are capable of immense destructive power… they need to be put down before they can hurt anyone else-"

"I'm well aware John. But think about it… it would be… such a waste if the beasts were slain just like that. Think about it… if we catch them you could be credited for finding a new species. We have much to gain from them."

"But if they really do end up being Lycan's than the beast is only-"

"That will be all John, thank you." Kingston interrupted him firmly. "I will contact you sometime later this week, and we can discuss about where we're going to go from here." He paused as he looked at him suspiciously. "We have a lot of things to discuss, you and I." John didn't have to ask him to know that the fur wearing man was referring to the cryptic conversation between him and Mojo, back in the smaller man's office.

Instead, he shut his mouth and nodded weakly. Kingston nodded back, looking slightly pleased. "We'll be in touch."

And with that, he slammed the carriage door, signaling for the diver to go. The driver cracked the reins and took off down the front pathway – effectively cutting the salt and pepper haired man off in the middle of his sentence.

"… the beast is only one side of them…" John finally muttered as the carriage lurched away from him and off the property.

"What about the man hiding inside?" he whispered to the cold February winds, receiving no response in return. He shuddered and pulled his coat tighter around him. Next week would be the beginning of March, and soon after that – his daughter's birthdays in April…

 _April… The month that his cousin-in-law was supposed to arrive and relieve them of the manor… allowing them to leave this cursed place and never return._

Provided they could make it to April that is _._

John winced, suddenly feeling far too exposed stranding out in the open, and moved towards the still open front doors, where he could see his daughter's standing just inside – watching him worriedly. He gently pushed past them and shut the door behind him, bending down slightly to unlace his boots.

"Papa? Is everything alright?" Bubbles asked gently as she took his coat and hung it on the coat rack along with hers and her sisters. John glanced up at his youngest with a small shake of his head.

"Not really hun, but I'm more concerned about you. You three were rather distant on the ride back home." he stated as he looked at each of his daughters. Blossom shifted her weight from one foot to another. "We're alright papa, no need to stress." Bubbles nodded in confirmation, but John noticed that his middle daughter remained silent, and was standing slightly off to the side, away from her sisters, looking slightly pale.

"Buttercup? Are you alright? You've been awfully withdrawn since we left." John asked his ebony haired child, causing her to look up with a start. The ravenette only shook her head as her dark hair hide her face slightly. "It's nothing dad, don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

John frowned but didn't push her, knowing full well that once his daughter got into a mood similar to the one she was having – trying to get her to open up was damn near impossible. Instead, he opted to leave her peculiar behavior alone for the time being – making a mental note to himself to check back in on her later.

"You know, you never got around to telling us how your meeting with Mojo went." Bubbles stated as she glanced up at her father. "How did it end up going? Did he say he was going to help you spread the word?"

John sighed and lightly shook his head at his youngest daughter's question, before looking at all three of his children sadly. "Not exactly-" Only to perk his head up as a sound from farther in the manor caught his attention.

He glanced over top of their heads as the sound of light laughter echoed from farther down the hallway leading towards the living room, only for the girls to recognize that the laugh belonged to their mother. The voluptuous woman appeared from the hallway a moment later, still chuckling to herself. Looking up, she spotted her children and husband staring at her and her smile widened.

"Ah John darling, you'll never guess who's come back." The beautiful woman smiled happily. "Nan's back! She just came in an hour or so ago. She got held up with some family matters that required her attention, but she's back now!"

John breathed a sigh of relief. "Well that's good to hear love, with her back we can actually start eating well again." That managed to cox another laugh out of his wife as she beamed at him. "Yes, you're not much of a cook, but at least you tried." She chuckled.

John nodded. "It's good that she's back. It'll be nice to have someone keep an eye on your mother, that way we won't have to watch her around the clock." Sara's face fell slightly, and John mentally slapped himself.

Sara smiled gently at her daughters. "Girls, why don't you go say hello to Nan while you're father and I start on supper. She's missed you three, and she's been asking about you."

Bubbles smiled. "I think that sounds like a nice idea. Where is she?"

"She's sitting down in the living room with a cup of tea." Sara responded as she tugged on John's arm. "Come on darling, I was thinking we could make soup for supper – that's not horribly difficult to make – you shouldn't burn anything." She grinned as John groaned, but never the less allowed her to drag him towards the kitchen. He winked at his daughters as he mouthed, _That soup's going to burn,_ Causing the girls to stifle laughter, as Bubbles jerked her head in the direction of the living room.

"Come on girls, let's say hello to nan before supper." The blonde smiled as she led the way down the hallway towards the living room. "Yeah… sure." Buttercup muttered as she followed behind Blossom, who shot her a concerned look in response.

They made their way down the hallway – both Blossom and Bubbles shooting worried looks over their shoulders at Buttercup, who was shuffling behind them with her eyes trained on the ground. Bubbles shared a look with her rose orbed sister, before slowing down to match Buttercup's speed. She tapped her on the shoulder hesitantly, causing the lime eyed woman to shrug slightly, but still refused to say anything to her.

"Buttercup? Are you alright?" Bubbles asked. "Fine." Buttercup responded curtly, still not bothering to lift her head to acknowledge her sister. "Never better."

"That's doubtful." Blossom challenged lightly. "You've been unnaturally quiet since we got back from the estate, which I find odd since you were in such a rush to get out of there in the first place. Besides you promised me that you would tell me why once we got back home. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing-" Buttercup started to say before cutting herself off with an unconvincing sigh. "Actually, yes. Everything. That visit with the boys was… eye opening to say the least." Both Blossom and Bubbles raised a brow at the ink hair woman, causing her to snort. "Oh come now, surely I'm not the only one who noticed that something was off with them."

Blossom shook her head as the three girls slowly rounded the corner, heading towards the living room. "You're going to have to be more specific Buttercup – there was… a lot of interesting things happening at the mansion today aside from the boy's behavior, which I will admit was… rather off-putting." She nodded her head at her. "Were you able to find out anything from Butch like you had originally hoped?"

Buttercup shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. "No. It backfired horribly… well, I mean, yes, a little actually – but it wasn't exactly the answers that I was hoping for. But this time around, I noticed that there are things about them that don't make sense…"

Bubbles furrowed her brow in confusion. "Buttercup you're not making any sense. What are you implying-"

"There's something wrong with them." Buttercup hissed as she grabbed onto Blossom and Bubbles's arms, forcing them to come to a stop just outside the living room.

Blossom frowned, slightly startled by her sister's sudden change in attitude. "Do explain Buttercup, I'm not sure I follow."

"Their behavior is just… unnatural!" the tall woman replied as she struggled to find the words to explain herself. "Just everything about them is just wrong, and it's not very noticeable things either, it's little things about them that are off-putting – the fact that they get sick every month like clockwork, the fact that they're completely unwilling to even _talk_ about what's going on in the forest despite them knowing that something is _clearly_ wrong, and-" she paused as she sucked in a breath before whispering:

"The fact that they know things that they shouldn't know."

"What are you trying to say Buttercup?" Blossom asked stiffy as she clenched her hands into fists – her nails biting into her skin as she squeezed them tighter.

Buttercup glanced around the hallway to make sure that no one was around before continuing. "When I was talking with Butch, the subject somehow turned to Mitch, and he was able to tell me _exactly_ what arm he lost."

"Well… alright, but what's wrong with that?" Bubbles asked confused. Buttercup pointed at her. "That's what I thought too, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with that sentence until I realized-" She looked at her sister's seriously. "Aside from Mrs. Michelson, we're the only ones who know about Mitch's condition, so there is no way that Butch should know about his arm being torn off!"

"Maybe Ace told them – I'm sure they must have asked about it-"

"Oh he probably did, but for him to remember exactly which arm he lost in the heat of that situation? No offence Bubbles, but Ace doesn't exactly strike me as the type of person who would really pay attention to details like that. I bet if you asked him now he wouldn't remember, and besides – Butch didn't say anything about Ace telling him that particular piece of information – he told me without even mentioning Ace." Buttercup retorted.

Bubbles thought about it for a second, before nodding. "I don't really see that either to be honest… so then how did he know? Lucky guess?"

"Dunno. But he got _very_ nervous when I called him out on it." Buttercup shook her head. "something doesn't add up here… I need to find out what it is they're hiding…"

"Butch wasn't the only one acting odd." Blossom spoke up, directing her sibling's attention onto her. "Brick was… I don't know, but something about him just seemed… different. I asked him about what happened to his mother and he almost went off." She bit her petal pink lip before whispering. "I think that there's more to her story then we were told… because from the way the Brick was talking about it – I don't think she's in Europe like what Mojo said."

The girls fell silent again at Blossom's ominous words.

"Well… if she's not in Europe…. Then where is she?" Bubbles asked quietly. Blossom only shook her head. "That's the thing, I don't think that Brick really knows either. It's like she just _vanished_." Blossom closed her eyes as a small frown crossed her face. "Come to think of it, that's what mama and papa thought too when we first came back here, remember? Something just isn't right about story surrounding her."

"Apparently, she was still living here when we were children." Bubbles added. "But I don't ever remember seeing her when we little, do either of you?"

"Aside from playing with Mitch as a child, and from when Butch bit me, I barely remember anything from when we lived here." Buttercup muttered darkly. "We were pretty young when we left, but no – I don't think that we ever saw her. Supposedly she was up in her room most of the time before she left?"

Blossom shrugged helplessly. "I never remembered seeing her. I'm having a lot of trouble keeping the facts about that family straight. I feel like there is a lot more to them then what we've been told…"

"That family has more secrets then all of Townsville combined." Buttercup growled. "Dad probably knows about some of them too, but he's never going to tell us. Look how long it took him to finally tell us about the Lycan issue, no if we want answers we'll just have to get them ourselves-"

She stopped in mid sentence as a sudden thought washed over her and she was bright back to what Butch had said earlier.

" _Careful little one. There are things going on here that you don't understand. I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions if I were you – considering that you don't know the_ half _of what's really going on around here."_

 _He was there, or at least near there when the attack happened._ Buttercup thought to herself hollowly. _That's the only way he would know details about the attack, aside hearing about it from Ace. But still…_ She trailed off as her hands slowly began to form into fists.

 _Something tells me that he knows more than what he's willing to let on… I'm just going to have to find out the hard way._

"Hey." Buttercup looked back up as Blossom snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Are you alright? Papa wasn't joking – you've been… really withdrawn since we've got back. What are you thinking about?" Buttercup only shook her head. "I dunno. I'm still trying to figure that out myself." She admitted with a half shrug. "I'm trying to make sense of everything that we found out today… which is proving to be more troublesome then I originally thought it would be."

"Well, what do you think is going on?" Bubbles finally asked. Buttercup opened her mouth to respond before a muffled voice from the living room interrupted her.

" _Girls? Girls is that you out there?"_

Buttercup closed her mouth and shook her head slightly. "I'll tell you later. Might as well go see nan before supper." Blossom frowned slightly but nodded regardless, as she squeezed her shoulder before moving past her and into the living room, Bubbles and Buttercup close behind her.

They entered the room, only to see their old nanny sitting on one of the plush couches sipping a cup of tea. The older woman beamed as they entered the room and set the cup down on one of the end tables so she could stand. She moved quickly towards them and held her arms out.

"Hello girls!" The robust woman smiled warmly as she pulled all three girls into a hug. "It's been a while hasn't it? I would have come back a lot sooner, but I heard that a lot of bad things have been happening around here lately – apparently from what I've been hearing, those things in the woods have been going absolutely wild as of late, so I figured I would keep my distance until it was safe to come back."

"It's probably best that you did." Buttercup agreed as she managed to detach herself from the older woman's embrace. "It's taken a turn for the worst."

"Yes, I heard about that poor boy." The bustier lady murmured sadly. "From what I can remember you and he were good friends, I'm sorry about what happened to him sweetie – but at least he's still alive!"

"Yeah, but for how long? Not to mention that he's missing an arm." Buttercup muttered as she turned her face away from her. The woman gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Head up love, who knows? He might make it through this yet."

"We'll see, won't we…" Buttercup trailed off, too preoccupied thinking about Butch's disturbing behavior earlier.

Blossom caught a glimpse at her middle sister's face and pieced together what she was thinking about. Turning her attention to her former caretaker she asked "Nanny, there is something that we wanted to ask you about."

Nanny smiled gently at the lovely auburn haired girl. "Of course Blossom, what is it?"

"Well, this may seem like an odd request, but I don't suppose you can tell us anything about werewolves, can you?"

The graying woman frowned slightly at the request. "Werewolves? Why do you want to know about those brutes?"

"Ah… my sisters and I have been catching up on the local legends recently?" Blossom supplied weakly, knowing that it was a half-truth. The older woman shrugged. "I could tell you some of the stories that I know I suppose. They all differ slightly, so it's hard to say which one is closer to the truth, but I'll tell you the ones that I'm most familiar with."

"If you could that would be amazing Nanny!" Bubbles chirped, quickly catching on to what her older sister was doing. "We've read all the stories about them in the library but they don't tell us much at all, so we were wondering if you knew any."

Nanny furrowed her brow at the youngest Utonium. "I thought you didn't like stories like these ones blue bird. What changed?"

"I suppose all the attacks from the creatures in the woods have got us compering them to werewolves to some degree… they're both quite beastly in behavior." Bubbles replied airily, hoping that her half-hearted excuse would convince her.

Nanny sighed tiredly. "Well I can't argue with that. I don't know what those things in the woods are exactly, but they certainly do seem to act like werewolves don't they?"

 _Oh nanny, you have no idea._ Bubbles thought to herself sadly, as he willed the smile to stay on her face.

"Well now let's see…" the older woman trailed off as she thought about the girl's request. "There's a couple variations to the story. One of them is that a person who is a werewolf bites another person to turn them into a wolf, but that's not always the case, and I'm sure you three have heard that one already."

The girls nodded.

"Personally, I think that that one is rather old and not as credible." Nanny muttered, "I feel like there are other forces at work in these kinds of tales. There are much more believable versions of stories involving Lycan's. Of course, they do still have the same outcome: a man who is cursed becomes a wolf during the full moon and goes out into the night and causes mischief – but how he got the curse varies depending what story you hear. Some say it's a gypsy curse caused by the blooming of wolfsbane on the full moon, others say that it's hereditary and that the curse is passed down in a family from generation to generation. Some say that they aren't humans at all, but demons sent straight from hell sent to punish the wicked…"

The older woman sighed as she paused momentarily to think. I don't know if I believe that one as much as the versions that call it a curse. I do believe that it is a man who bares the unfortunate burden of the wolf, but I can understand why people would think that it's a demon – after all, they certainly aren't holy beings."

She shook her head as she glanced out one of the windows that displayed the foreboding tree line just beyond the iron gated fence surrounding the property. "There is one last tale I know about them though." She said quietly, not looking at the girls as she spoke. "It's an old story, one not known by many, or simply forgotten about with the passage of time."

She turned her attention back to the girls with a soft smile on her rugged features. "There is a lovely old English tale that I heard a long time ago as a young girl, that says if someone who truly loves the werewolf – calls the beast by name, will apparently turn the beast back into its human form." Her smile seemed to turn into a sad one as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'd like to think that particular tale is true. The other's surrounding the beast are so dark and grim, that I'd like to believe that this one holds some truth to it."

"That would be nice." Bubbles mused quietly. "Maybe if we knew who the beasts were, we could try that- oomph!" she was cut off as Buttercup's elbow found its way into her ribs, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Sorry Bubbles, I didn't hear you, what did you say?"

"Nothing. I was just saying that I hope that it's true as well." Bubbles covered, rubbing her ribs gently as she sent her sisters an apologetic look.

"Well, thank you for taking the time to tell us about the other stories." Blossom murmured quietly "We appreciate it very much, the books that we have in the library were quite limited-"

"Oh, and then there's also tales of the Grimm, but those are slightly different." Nanny added abruptly, causing the girls to look at her in confusion.

"The Grimm?" Bubbles repeated, scrunching her nose as she tested the unfair name. Nanny nodded. "They're slightly different from Lycan's but no less dangerous. Grimm's take on the shape of wolf-like dogs and are said to be the embodiment of bad omens. They bring misery and despair wherever they go. Some even say that they represent the Devil himself."

The girls stared at the elder woman in a stunned silence. The graying woman fidgeted under their horrified stares. "Of course, there's nothing to be worried about girls, they're just stories. Just like the Lycan's, they're just stories."

"Yeah…" Bubbles muttered as she shot a fleeting glance out the window and out at the dark forest that lay beyond the house. "Stories… they're just…. Stories…."

"Lately it seems like the stories are coming to life." Buttercup mumbled under her breath, only for Blossom to send her a guarded look. "That's interesting Nan, I've never heard about them before… is there anything else about them that you can tell us?" Blossom asked, hoping that the older lady hadn't heard her disgruntled sister's mutterings.

The robust woman tapped her chin with her fingers as she pondered the pale girl's request. She was quiet for a moment before fixing Blossom with a hard stare.

"Legend has it that they're supposed to bring about the end of days… they're the Reapers of souls if you will."

The girls lapsed into an uncomfortable silence as the weight of their old caretaker's words washed over them. Blossom swallowed thickly. "Thank you for telling us about that Nan, really – we appreciate it."

"It's no trouble love, I hope that I was able to answer some of your questions, but might I ask what's with the sudden interest?" the older woman asked curiously. Blossom glanced back over her shoulder at her sisters, who both looked slightly ill, before turning back to face her old nanny.

"Honestly Nan, you probably wouldn't believe us if we told you."

The old woman's face wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean-"

"NAN! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY IN THE KITCHEN! THE POTS ARE BOILING OVER! WHAT DO I DO?"

The older woman muttered a curse under her breath as the girl's father's shrill voice came from the kitchen, followed by the smell of something burning.

"Excuse me girls, I have to go assist your father before he burns the house down." The woman sighed as she all but bolted in the direction of the kitchen, leaving the girls alone.

"… I guess that supper is going to be delayed." Bubbles sighed as Buttercup let out a snort. "I'll say. I'm not very hungry though, to be totally honest."

"Neither am I…" Blossom admitted. "Food is the last thing on my mind after hearing all that."

"I figured that nan would know more stories than what the books told me." Buttercup muttered. "Which is nice, but it now I have more questions and still no answers." She frowned as she looked at her sisters. "You two ever heard of the Grim before any of this?"

Blossom and Bubbles shook their heads. "No, I can't say I have." Bubbles muttered finally, "Have you?"

"No, this is the first time I've heard about it." Buttercup confirmed. "I find it interesting that all things evil seem to come in the form of a wolf."

"Maybe they're related somehow." Blossom supplied. "Though from the way nan was describing it, it sounds like the Grimm's are more… ancient then Lycan's are."

 _Not to mention more devil-like._ The rose orbed woman thought darkly to herself, though she didn't mention it out loud.

Buttercup shrugged before lifting a hand to rub at her temples. "I don't know, it's hard enough to believe we have _werewolves_ living in the forest, we sure as hell better not have any Grimm's running around." She groaned irritably. "Again, now I have more questions and no answers, and it's not like we can just go around asking people about it – They'll think we're delusional."

"Until papa can find a way to go public with the information that he discovered, and get the townspeople to believe him, I think that it's best if we keep this to ourselves." Blossom agreed. "People are already frightened enough as it is, we don't need to go stirring up more trouble."

"Do you think that Mr. Morebucks believed him?" Bubbles asked nervously. "From the sounds of it, Lord Mojo didn't seem to believe papa when he broke the news to him. I'd hate for Mr. Morbucks to turn on him as well and think that he's insane."

"I dunno, he sounded pretty invested in what dad has to say." Buttercup muttered. "But even that doesn't sit very well with me. He seemed a little _too_ interested in the wolves if you ask me."

Blossom opened her mouth to retort, but shut it once she though back to Kingston Morbucks's earlier behavior when badgering their father for answers about the wolves. "I can't argue with that." She finally admitted. "I don't know what he's trying to get at, but I suppose we should keep an eye on him and Princess. I've heard rumors about the Morbucks family doing some… under the table business dealings in order to get more power, and I'd hate to think that he's trying to cash in on those things…"

"I don't know why he would, or what he would have to gain from it." Buttercup muttered. "But it's unnerving. Of course, we could be completely wrong, and he's just interested in knowing what the things that are slaughtering everyone are – but we know them better than most people do, and we know that they're just a bunch of money hungry business people with no morals." He eyes became flinty. "Especially Princess-"

"Speaking of her" Bubbles whispered. "I heard that Mr. Morbucks wasn't very pleased with the way the boys supposedly talked to her when you went to the estate by yourself." She nodded at Blossom. "Apparently, he was trying to tell Lord Mojo off, but he wasn't having any of it."

Buttercup snorted. "Serves her right. That pretentious brat had that coming for a while. I wish I had been there to see it." she sighed wishfully, before rising an eyebrow at her younger sister. "How do you know that?"

Bubbles flushed. "I overheard a part of the conversation when I was passing by his study with Boomer. He didn't sound too happy."

"When is he ever though." Buttercup sighed. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly and glanced up at the grandfather clock that sat ticking way in the corner of the living room. "I think I'm going to skip dinner tonight. I'm not hungry at all… I've got too many things on my mind right now."

"I'm going to have to agree with Butters." Bubbles murmured gently, as she jerked a thumb in the direction of the kitchen, where frantic, muffled cries could still be heard echoing throughout the house. "I'm pretty sure papa has burnt it beyond saving anyways."

Buttercup snorted as she turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, followed closely by her sisters. The three girls were just passing the kitchen as their father was leaving – coughing and muttering profanities under his breath, only to pause as he looked up and noticed his daughters – managing to crack a weak smile at them.

"Oh girls, I'm sorry but dinner is going to be a bit delayed tonight. If the three of you can wait for at least an hour, I'm sure nan can whip something up-"

"Not hungry dad, but thanks." Buttercup interrupted as she brushed past him, making her way towards the stairs. John looked at his two remaining daughters. "Is… is Buttercup alright?" he asked gently. "She's very quiet since we came back." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did something happen?" he suddenly looked furious. "Did one of the boys-"

"No, no not at all." Bubbles quickly interjected. "We've just had an interesting day… It didn't quiet turn out like any of us had intended. She's just drained, and to be fair, so am I."

"Oh? What was it that you three were hoping for?" their father asked curiously before nervously biting his lip. "You… you girls didn't tell the boys about you-know-what right?"

"No, it didn't really come up in our conversations with Brick or Boomer, though I don't know about Butch." Blossom responded as she cast a nervous look in the direction Buttercup had taken off in. "Apparently from what I understand, Mitch was brought up when they were talking and it struck a chord with Buttercup – talking about it is a painful thing for her to deal with."

 _It also doesn't help that Butch knows things about him that he shouldn't possibly know._ Blossom thought to herself grimly. _No wonder she's so upset. Every time we think that we're going to get answers – something unexpected happens and throws us in another direction, putting us back at square one again._

Her father ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper locks worriedly. "I see." He murmured after a moment, glancing after his ink haired daughter. "Well one can hardly blame her, I'm still shaken up over the news myself." He frowned as he fixed his blonde and auburn haired daughters sternly.

"I have to ask a favor of you three." Blossom and Bubbles nodded. "Of course papa, what is it?" Bubbles asked, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"I spoke with Mojo concerning Mitch's theories, and presented my research proving his assumptions are indeed correct to him this afternoon with Kingston – and as you both can guess, it went less than stellar. He didn't believe it at all, even though I had Kingston's support." The older man sighed. "He thinks I've gone mad. Of course, he didn't say that to my face, but he didn't have to. Thankfully Kingston doesn't think I'm a complete nutcase, and had even agreed to help me spread the word, regardless of what Mojo thinks." He paused.

"Though I really hope that he meant what he said, and wasn't just saying it to my face to calm me down. I know what I sounded like, and as insane as it is – I believe that it's the truth, and people have a right to know that."

"Well you even mentioned that quite a few of the townsfolk are starting to think that the Lycan's are demons anyways." Bubbles pointed out softly. "I might be wrong, but something tells me that the town's people might be more open to the idea then you might think."

"Yes… I suppose so." John agreed half-heartedly, only for his dark eyes to harden as he looked at his daughters.

"…In the meantime, I don't want you three talking about those things to anyone else. It seems like even mentioning those things brings death and misery, and we've already had enough of that to last us a lifetime."

Blossom and Bubbles both flinched and nodded silently, having agreed to that amongst themselves earlier.

Their father sighed as he rubbed his hand across his face. "If you both could pass that onto Buttercup I would appreciate it." Blossom nodded, "We'll let her know not to mention the wolves until you're ready to announce it yourself. Hopefully it will be soon – the people need to know what they're up against."

"Trust me Blossom, I know. I want to tell people, but if I don't have Mojo's support it's going to make things a little more difficult, regardless of whether or not they believe it." He looked over their heads and at the wall behind them as a distant look entered his eyes.

"Support or no support from Mojo, I _will_ announce it to the town before the next full moon. I don't know how yet, but I will. I have enough evidence to prove everything that Mitch had said is true… I don't know how I'm going to do it, but they need to know. These poor people have suffered enough… I need to avenge your Grandfather and your Uncle somehow…"

Blossom watched as he father's eyes became glassy, before he snapped himself out of his trance with a small shake of his head – redirecting his attention back to his daughters with a weak half smile. "Are you sure that you two don't want to wait a little longer for dinner? I don't want the three of you heading to bed on empty stomachs-"

"We'll be fine papa, thank you." Bubbles assured him gently. "Truth be told none of us are very hungry at the moment. I think we just need some sleep right now. Say good night to mama and nanny for us." The petite blonde stood on her tiptoes to give her father a small kiss on the cheek. "Good night papa, we'll see you in the morning."

"Very well, good night my dears." The older man relented with a sigh as he gently kissed both girls on the cheek. "I'll let your mother know that you won't be joining us for supper tonight – not that I blame you – it's not my best creation…"

Both girls laughed lightly as they bid their father a goodnight and headed towards the grand staircase where Buttercup would undoubtedly be waiting for them – the smiles slipping off their faces as they walked away from their father.

"What do you make of that?" Bubbles asked quietly. Blossom shook her head slowly. "I don't know. It's unsettling to say the least. I don't understand why Mojo would be unwilling to disregard everything papa told him, while Kingston agrees with him. You'd think it would be the other way around."

Bubbles hummed. "I agree. Lord Mojo has lived here his whole life, and he and papa have seen the same evidence from the other murders… so I don't get why he doesn't want to listen to papa… unless…" she looked over at Blossom with a dark look in her piercing blue eyes.

"… Unless _he_ has something to hide-"

"Well it's about time." An annoyed voice cut across their hushed tones like a knife. Both girls looked up slightly, only to see Buttercup hanging over the top of the staircase railing, tapping her fingers against the cool metal. "You took your sweet time talking to dad."

"Oh Buttercup, papa said-"

"You don't have to repeat it Bubbles, I heard all of it, thank you. The house has terrible acoustics" Buttercup responded curtly, as she set her lips into a thin line. Bubbles flinched slightly at her sister's tone, but said nothing as she slowly ascended the stairs to stand by her sister, as Blossom followed close behind her.

"Buttercup-" Bubbles asked gently as she reached for her, only for the darker woman to move away from her abruptly and ascend the rest of the stairs to the second floor.

"That's it." Buttercup muttered as she stalked down the hallway leading towards her room. "I can't do this anymore. My head feels like it's about to explode. Between dad, the boys and everyone else in this town who insists on keeping things from us, we know next to nothing about those bloody wolves and we've even _seen_ them for Christ's sake!"

"Buttercup calm down." Blossom muttered as she placed a hand on lime eyed woman's shoulder, only for her to jerk her shoulder out of her grasp. Blossom sighed. "I want answer more than anything too, but getting angry isn't going to help anything."

She ripped open the door leading into her room savagely. "I'm going to get answers for the three of us. I have a hunch about what's going on, but there are more holes that need to be filled before I start pointing fingers."

"Well then we'll help you-"

"No!" Buttercup's lime green eyes took on an almost fearful edge, before she pulled her sisters into her room, shutting the door securely behind her, before turning around to glare at her siblings.

"I'm not going to get the two of you involved in this." Buttercup snapped. "I did that last time, and look what happened!" she marched over to Blossom and pulled down the shoulder of her dress, exposing the pale teeth marks on her collar bone, before using her free hand to push up Bubbles's sleeve, revealing her own set of bite marks on her forearm.

"I got lucky last time, but I'm not going to put either of you into harm's way again." Buttercup stated firmly as she slowly backed away from her sisters. Blossom sighed. "Buttercup, you can't blame yourself for that, I'm just as much to blame-"

"No you're not. That was my decision, and I forced you to come. I'll take the blame." Buttercup shook her head. "No, I've already put the both of you into enough danger already, I won't do it again. I'll get the answers on my own, then tell you what I've found. I think it will be easier that way."

"Buttercup this is madness-" Blossom began, shaking her head, only for her raven haired sister to shoot her down with a look. "Do you want the truth or not? Because I am _done_ with the deceit and the lies."

Blossom fell silent as she mulled over the question in her mind for a few moments. Finally, her shoulders sagged and she sighed. "And how exactly do you plan on retrieving those answers?" Blossom asked as she crossed her arms and cocked a delicately arched eyebrow at her sister skeptically.

"Dad mentioned that he went to visit the gypsies for answers on the Lycan's, so maybe I'll go there too – see what they know." Buttercup shrugged. "I definitely want to pay Mitch's Grandmother a visit and see if she can tell me anything that happened before the full moon – because I know that the boys are involved with what happened to him somehow. Something just isn't adding up with what Bubbles overheard and what they're telling us."

"How do you plan on getting out to ask them?" Bubbles quipped. "I highly doubt that papa will just let you go off by yourself – he practically has the whole house on lockdown until further notice. And besides…." She peaked at her sister from underneath her eyelashes. "I don't think he'd like the idea of you running around trying to find out about those things."

"I'll sneak out if I have to." Buttercup responded with a slight grimace. "I don't want to, but look how long it took for him to come clean about the Lycan's in the first place. If he and nobody else will tell us anything, then it's up to us to find the answers for ourselves, because whether we like it or not – we're all involved now." She nodded to her sister's concealed bite marks.

"I don't know who the Lycan's are as humans, or what they want with us – but those things came after us for a reason. They weren't in it to kill – they were in it for the chase, and if that book that I read has any truth to it… they want us for… other reasons."

Bubbles shuddered as the words from the book that Buttercup had been reading from came back to haunt her.

 _When the wolf has met his match, a bite he will bestow, of the one he has chosen for a bride._

 _Bride…_

"But why?" she finally whispered. "Why us?" Blossom shook her head. "I don't know Bubbles." She admitted. "I really don't know."

"Neither do I. That's why we need to do some sleuthing for ourselves. Nobody can know about the bites, not until we figure out what they really mean. Then we'll go from there." Buttercup sighed as she rubbed her forehead tiredly. "We need to get some answers before the next full moon. I'd hate to run into those things again."

Blossom frowned. "What makes you so sue that we'll see them again?" Buttercup snorted.

"Oh I'm sure that we'll run into them sooner or later. Mitch was their biggest threat, but now that he's…" she paused as a conflicted loom came over her face. "temporarily out of the picture, there's no telling what they'll do. You two are "marked" after all – they're bound to come looking for you eventually."

Bubbles went pale at her older sister's words. "I don't want them to come looking for me." She trembled. "I just want them to leave the town alone…"

"Which is exactly why we need answers." Buttercup argued. "So if and when they do come looking for you two, we'll know how to stop them."

"Do you really believe that?" Bubbles asked quietly. A hard edge appeared in her sisters lime green eyes and it was another moment before she responded. "I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to try."

"What do you plan to do?" Blossom asked quietly, as she opted to direct her attention at her feet instead of meeting her feisty sisters blazing green orbs. Buttercup's lips drew into a tight line as she looked at her older sister's tired figure.

"The Jojo's know something. Whether it's about what happened to Mitch or something about the Lycan's themselves, they know something. Don't either of you find it odd that they get sick every month around the same time like clockwork? I know that I'm not the only one who's noticed that… Bubbles pointed it out first…" Bubbles flinched slightly as Buttercup continued.

"…If they won't tell us what exactly is going on, then I'm going to do some investigative work into them…"

Blossom's head whipped up as the implication of Buttercup's words washed over her. "Buttercup that's madness – you can't go into their property uninvited, especially not at night and during the full moon! Papa will never let you out!"

"That's where you and Bubbles will come in." Buttercup replied. "There's no way I'm going to drag the two of you into anymore danger. You two can stay here and cover for me while I'm out of the house. I just want to look around the Jojo's property – see it there's anything suspicious that can tell us anything.

"You honestly think that we'd let you go alone?" Blossom shot back. "Not only is what you're thinking about doing trespassing, but you're putting yourself at risk as well! What if something happens to you and you don't come back?"

A shadow passed over Buttercup's face. "Well then you'll know where I went, and where to start looking for me if anything does happen."

Blossom groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "This is insane. I can't believe that you're actually serious about this."

"We need answers Blossom, and we need them badly." Buttercup shot back, but there was no edge in her voice. "If everyone had just been honest with us from the get go, then maybe it wouldn't have come to this, but now look at the mess we've gotten ourselves into: people we love are dead or close to it, not to mention a staggering amount of innocent people have been caught in the crossfire, and that number will continue to rise if we don't figure this out."

"I agree." Bubbles finally with a tiny nod. "But why does it have to be us? I want answers just as much as the next person, but I don't want any of us to get killed looking for them!" she sent a deliberate look at Buttercup as she spoke. It didn't go unnoticed by her raven haired sister however.

"Because Bubbles, those things came after us for a reason. There has to be a deeper meaning to all of this, and no one is going to be able to tell us the answers unless we find them ourselves." Buttercup muttered. "God forbid anyone else sees the marks you two have on you before we figure out what they mean – people might accuse you of being witches."

"They… they wouldn't… would they?" Bubbles asked as she gripped her bitten bicep as she glanced nervously between her older sisters, who only shot each other worried looks. "Well based on how paranoid people have become in the last two months… I wouldn't put anything past them at this point." Blossom finally sighed.

"But we aren't witches!" Bubbles feebly protested. "You've gotten bitten by a supernatural creature that's supposed to exist only in fairytales – try explaining that one to paranoid townsfolk who still heavily believe in the power of the church." Buttercup muttered. "That's why no one can know about those bites, and why we have to find the answers out for ourselves."

She turned away from her sisters and placed a hand on the open door leading into her room, before she paused and sent a an almost timid look at her sisters. "You two _will_ back me up when I do this right? I'm doing it for you… as a way to make up for you getting… you know…"

The dark-haired woman trailed off as she glanced at the places her sisters had gotten bitten, unwilling to bring herself to say it out loud. Blossom shook her head. "Buttercup I told you we don't blame you for what happened-"

"and I told you that I do, so just let me do this for the both of you." Buttercup cut in firmly, before her expression softened and changed into an almost pleading one.

"Please."

Blossom and Bubbles looked at each other unsurely, before looking back at their middle sister who looked absolutely wretched, and sighed.

"Fine. I don't like it, but you're right: we do need answers." Blossom caved. "What exactly do you need us to do."

Buttercup flashed her auburn sister a grateful smile. "This upcoming full moon I'll sneak out to the Jojo estate and poke around – see if I can find anything. If I can't I'll come straight back and we won't speak of this again. All you two need to do is make sure that no one notices that I'm gone. Should be easy enough."

"How do you plan on getting there?" Bubbles crossed her arms. "The estate is on the other side of town – there's no way we're going to let you walk. Not with those Lycan's running around – one of them took an interest in you too, don't think we've forgotten!"

Buttercup grimaced as the memory of how the beast had pinned her up against the tree resurfaced. "Don't remind me. I'll figure out how to get there closer to the date. Maybe I can grab a horse from the stables without anyone seeing… I'll figure something out."

She flashed them a tight-lipped smile. "I know this isn't what you want me to do, and I know that you don't want to go behind our families backs in order to get answers, but thank you for understanding that this is something that we need to do."

Bubbles offered her a small smile in return. "Of course, we're sisters – we're in this together… no matter how twisted this ends up becoming."

Blossom nodded uneasily. "We'll figure this out… somehow."

Buttercup sighed as she moved into the threshold of her room. "Yeah… eventually. I… I think I'm going to turn in early tonight… I need some time to think about where we're going to go from here."

Blossom looked at her sisters turned back with a soft sigh. "Yes of course, I agree… I think we all could use some rest."

"But-" Bubbles started to protest before Blossom cut her off with a single shake of her head. "Come on Bubbles, I'll let you braid my hair before we turn in… it's been a long day for all of us after all."

The golden-haired girl huffed as she glanced between her sisters before she relented with a slight huff. "Fine." She grumbled as she moved after Buttercup to give her a small squeeze from behind. "Goodnight Butters, sweet dreams."

Buttercup didn't turn around to acknowledge her, but that didn't stop the small but genuine smile that crawled up her lips at her younger sister's actions. She could always count on Bubbles to remain positive even during the darkest of times.

"Goodnight." She murmured softly as she shut her door behind her with a soft _click._ She kept one ear pressed to the door, only to hear her the sound of her sister's soft footsteps slowly move away from outside her door, and back down the hallway towards their own rooms until she couldn't hear them anymore.

When she heard the faint sound of her sister's doors shutting, she moved away from the dark oak door and towards her dresser, where she pulled out her nightgown and proceeded to get ready for bed – knowing full well that sleep wouldn't come to her tonight.

The raven-haired woman shut the curtains to her windows, plunging the room into darkness as she collapsed on her bed, drawing the thick comforter around her as she snuggled into to plush pillows in a futile effort to become comfortable.

She groaned irritably as her mind continued to race with questions about the day and the information that she and her sisters had learned. She was starting to formulate a theory in her head about the madness that had befallen the town, but she needed proof before she could finalize anything.

The only thing that she knew for sure was that things were not as they seemed. Their family had deep roots here and had a hidden past with the town, and most importantly – the Jojo clan themselves – a past that her father seemed almost desperate to keep from them.

Her eyebrows drew together as she shifted in her bed – feeling an odd sense of dread wash over her with that last thought. She still wasn't sure what had happened between her father and the patriarch of the Jojo clan, but she knew that it had something to do with her and her sisters – it had to have. It was the only logical conclusion that she could think of.

Things were starting to make sense to her now the more she thought about it. It was almost like pieces of some massive puzzle were starting to fall into place – giving her some sort of clarity while doing so – making what she had to do next all the clearer in her head.

Which included a secret trip to the Jojo property.

She was ready to make her way up to the Jojo estate – In hopes of finding the answers that she and her sisters desperately needed to know – but not at all ready for what she might discover.

But whether she liked what she found or not was irrelevant. It didn't matter anymore. Whatever they were hiding was important…. And dangerous. Dangerous enough that they would be willing to continually lie to them, time and time again whenever the subject was brought up.

She frowned as she shut her eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep state.

Butch was right. She wasn't going to like the answers that she discovered.

* * *

 **…**

On the other side of town, on the top floor of the Jojo mansion – Boomer's cobalt blue eyes slowly opened.

He sat up slowly in his bed as he blinked away sleep, before looking out his open window and into the moonless sky above him. He tensed and grit his teeth together.

 _It was too dark. Nights without the moon were the worst. Everything was too dark, too still._

And he hated it.

He slowly sat up in bed as he slipped out from underneath his covers, and trudged across the room to a shelf with various items on it. He scanned it briefly, before smiling and pulling a small, purple octopus doll off of the shelf, and made his way back to bed.

He pulled the covers up around him and the doll as he gave the soft, worn material a comforting pat, before slipping back into another dreamless state – his arm wrapped protectively around the doll.

 _It was nights like this where he just needed a little extra comfort, and nobody but him needed to know about it._

* * *

 **Authors note:** " _With great power comes great responsibility… and sometimes the price that comes along with that power is a costly one."_

 _Much as the chapter title implies: secrets were brought to light, but some were probably better off buried. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place for the girls, and won't be long before they realize that they're caught in a game that's far more twisted than they ever could have imagined. The boys aren't the only thing that they have to worry about._

 _Speaking of the boys…_

 _The girls managed to escape their claws once before, but whether or not they'll be able to do it a second time is up for debate. One thing is for sure though: They're never going to be able to leave Townsville so long as the boys are alive._

 _The long-awaited confrontation between the boys and the girls is coming to a head, but it is far from over. Unfortunately, the girl's nightmares are only beginning…_

 _My apologies for this chapter coming out a month later then I said it would. I was dealing with a fair amount of personal things the whole month of June – and on top of that, I have an online course that requires me to donate about 40 hours every week for the whole summer. My end date is August 15_ _th_ _so… you can expect Chapter 12 to be published sometime after that. (It's going to be horrifically long, so my apologies once again if it comes later than that.)_

 _Thank you to all of those who have reviewed, favorited or followed Lycan. I love hearing your feedback and once again, everything that I do is for all of you!_

 _Thank you all so much and I will see you back here for Chapter 12: Into the Woods._

 _Much love,_

 _Mrs. RoseGold xoxox_


	12. Into the Woods

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _The rating of this story is a High T for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned._

 **Disclaimer:** _this chapter has massive amounts of gore within it and some of the themes within may be disturbing to some of my younger readers. Please read with caution._

 _Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners._

 _The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages_.

 _*Aw merci beaucoup Alicia mon cher! Une fois de plus, je suis étonné que mon histoire soit lue dans d'autres parties du monde, et que vous continuiez à prendre le temps de laisser de si belles critiques sur mes chapitres! Tu m'aides à rafraîchir mon français, et j'apprécie ça! J'espère avoir de vos nouvelles bientôt, et j'espère que vous apprécierez le chapitre!_

 ****HAPPY 2018 EVERYONE. THIS IS SO LATE, BUT IT IS MY GIFT TO YOU TO START THE NEW YEAR OFF ON A HIGH NOTE. PLEASE ENJOY!****

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Into the Woods**

" _Mama, mama, help get me home._

 _Mama, mama, I'm out on my own._

 _Found me a Werewolf, a nasty old mutt._

 _It showed me it's teeth, and went straight for my gut."_

 _-Nursery Rhyme, ?_

 **Bellum Manor**

"I win again."

"For god's sake Bubbles. What is this? The fifth win in a row? And how?"

"Sixth actually, and look: king takes rook. I've won."

Buttercup cursed under her breath as her younger sister pointed out her most recent chess win to her. "Can we do something else now? You know chess isn't my specialty."

"I thought you wanted to improve your game?" Bubbles teased her lightly, only for Buttercup to reach over the ornate chess table and shove her lightly. "I changed my mind. I'd suggest that we go kick a ball around outside, but it's pretty cold, and I don't feel like getting frostbite today."

The dark-haired girl leaned back in her chair and let an exaggerated sigh out. "I never thought I'd say this after the last couple of months we've had, but I'm actually a little bored. It would be nice if something happened around here soon.

"Be careful what you wish for." Blossom's melodic voice floated over from her spot across the room by the grand piano. The eldest Utonium sister didn't bother looking up from the piano keys as her pale fingers past over the black and white keys effortlessly – creating a beautiful melody that echoed throughout the large household.

"Do you know where mama is? Bubbles asked curiously. "Mum's upstairs with Gran, I'm pretty sure that dad's in his office, and Nanny's in the kitchen making lunch, I think." Buttercup mumbled as she began to put away the chess pieces away. "Why?"

"Just curious, I haven't seen much of them since breakfast this morning." Bubbles pointed out. "Don't bother them today." Blossom sighed over the sounds of the piano. "This might be one of the few down days we get for a while. It's nice that the atmosphere isn't so tense today."

The sound of polite knocking on the front door made her pause. "I spoke too soon. I wonder what's in store for us today?" she muttered sarcastically, thinking back to all of the other times that someone had knocked on their door.

"I'll get it." Nanny called out, as the sound of her footsteps trodded towards the door. The girls listened as the older woman opened the door, only for them to hear her great someone enthusiastically a second later. "Girls?" Nanny's voice echoed though the household. "I think you might want to take this. I believe this visitor is here to see you three."

The girls looked at each other in curiosity. "Who could that be?" Bubbles asked. "Don't know, but it seems like I got what I asked for." Buttercup snickered as she stood up and motioned for her sisters to follow after her. "Come on, I want to see who it is."

The three girls made their way to the front of the house, passing nanny as she was heading back to the kitchen. She winked at them. "Lunch will be ready later girls, in the meantime, I think you might like who's here to see you three."

"Who is it?" Blossom asked her old caretaker, only for the older woman to smile knowingly. "Someone who you haven't seen in a very long time. Hopefully you still remember her."

"Her?" Bubbles asked as she pushed her way past her sisters with a sudden grin plastered on her face. "Don't tell me that's who I think it is-"

Blossom and Buttercup quickly followed after their youngest sister, just in time to see her wrap her arms around young woman, wrapped in a large winter coat, scarf and mitts – chattering excitedly.

"Well, well, I'm impressed Bubbly! I'll admit, I wasn't sure if you'd remember me – it's been a while after all."

"Of course, I remember you! You haven't changed a bit!" Bubbles gushed to the mysterious woman. "We were so close, it'd be an insult if I didn't remember you!" she looked over her shoulder at her sisters, as she allowed the woman to take off her coat and mitts. "Blossom, Buttercup, you remember Robin, don't you?"

"Robin, Robin Snyder? From when we were kids? The same Robin who's engaged to Mitch?" Buttercup asked as she peered around her younger sister to catch a peek at their houseguest. The girl hung her coat up, and unwrapped her scarf, before looking up at green eyed girl with a friendly smile. "Hi Buttercup, wow it's been a long time, look at you! You've gotten so tall, and you've even let your hair grow out!"

"You're not the first person to say that to me." The green clad girl snickered with a sarcastic roll of her eyes. "Why is that the first thig everyone says to me?"

"Oh, it looks good, don't worry!" Robin grinned as she unlaced her winter boots, before making her way over to give her a light hug. "It's good to see you again! It's been years!"

"No kidding." Buttercup muttered as she returned the hug, before pulling back to look at her. Light blue eyes, framed by long, straight brown hair, and lightly freckled cheeks, stared back at her, and Buttercup found herself brought back to memories of her childhood, where she and her sister used to play with a small girl with the same features.

"Wow," she muttered as she shook her head clear of the onslaught of memories. "It _has_ been a while." Robin nodded as she stepped away to give Blossom a hug. "It has been! It's good to see all of you after this long! When I heard that your family was back in town, I had to stop by and see for myself!"

"I thought that you didn't live in Townsville anymore?" Blossom questioned with a light laugh. "I thought Mitch had said that you and he had moved to a smaller town that neighbored Townsville – not that we aren't happy to see you naturally! Just surprised."

At that, Robin's happy smile faded and was replaced by a frown. "Yes… we do… about that… I'm afraid that my visit back here isn't just to visit for fun… I got called back by a concerning letter that the police sent me… about Mitch, actually."

Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles looked at each other knowingly. "We figured that the news would reach you eventually." Blossom murmured. "Robin… about what happened to him… I am so sorry… we were devastated when we heard."

"What don't you come in and sit down for a little bit?" Bubbles suggested kindly as she took the pretty brunette by the arm, and began to lead her towards the living room, followed closely by Blossom and Buttercup. Bubbles gently sat Robin down on one of the plush living room couches, before taking a seat next to her, leaving her sisters to sit down on the sofa opposite of them.

"You know Robin… if it means anything to you at all… our own visit back here isn't a pleasant one either." Bubbles admitted sadly. "A couple of months ago, we were informed that our Uncle Eugene had been… killed, and then not even a month later, our Grandfather was killed too." Bubbles told her sadly as she bushed some of her long, golden hair behind her ear and out of her face.

"Yes… I heard that your Uncle and Grandfather had… passed. I've very sorry to hear about that. Your Uncle was so adventurous and always had the best stories, and your Grandfather was such a kind man. I can't believe he's gone. He's been the mayor for as long as I can remember. I can tell you that they'll both be missed greatly around town. " Robin murmured softly. "Your family has my condolences."

"Thank you, we appreciate it. It's still hard to believe that they're both gone." Blossom said quietly as she looked down at her hands. "The family is still shaken up from it. Our Grandmother still hasn't fully recovered from it."

Robin shook her head with a _tisking_ sound. "Such a sweet lady. I feel so bad for her. I know how she feels though."

"Yes… Have you seen Mitch yet?" Bubbles ventured cautiously. Robin hesitated and laced her fingers together before responding to her question. "Not yet. I came back to stay with his Grandmother for a little while before I head to the hospital. She's not doing very well, health-wise recently, and with Mitch not being there, I just wanted to make sure she was fine." She admitted. "I'll be going to see him soon… Hopefully he's a little better now then what he was…"

She trailed off, but the girls could see the hesitation written clearly across her face. "I… don't suppose that you heard that his one arm got… bitten off… did you? When I received the letter from the police informing me of the situation, they mentioned it in passing, and well obviously I came down the next day"

"Ah… we heard something about it." Blossom coughed. "Aside from that, we haven't heard anything about it. I heard they were possibly going to try and re-attach it?"

Robin snorted bitterly. "I don't think that's going to happen. The letter made it seem like the damage was too extensive for them to re-attach it…" she put her head in her hands. "Who would do this to him? What kind of sick person would hurt him like this? He never did anything to deserve this!"

The triplets looked at their distraught friend – not sure of what to do. The girls felt torn, they wanted to tell the brunette what they knew, but at the same time, they weren't sure about what her reaction would be. They looked at each other, as they silently began to bicker amoungest themselves.

 _Blossom look at her – we have to tell her the truth. She's hurting badly._

 _Not a word Blondie. We can't let her know! Just wait until dad makes the public announcement. That way she can find out with the rest of the town. It's easier that way._

 _Girls please, just let me think! This is a serious matter. We have to be careful about what we say! We can't have this coming back to bite us later!_

The girls silently argued among themselves until finally Bubbles broke eye contact and turned to face Robin.

"Robin, I have to confess that we haven't been completely truthful with you." Bubbles mumbled as she pried one of her friend's hands away from her face and took it in one of her own. "Bubbles." Buttercup growled in warning, only for the blue-eyed sister to brush her off. Robin furrowed her brows. "What do you mean Bubs?"

"Well… We know what caused the mass killings, and what's behind what happened to Mitch." Bubbles admitted slowly, causing Robin to look at her in astonishment. "The question is whether or not you'll believe us if we tell you."

"You mean you know who's behind this and you haven't told anyone?" Robin hissed. "Are you three out of your minds? You have the power to stop this! So why haven't you done-"

"It's not that easy Robin, believe me, I wish it was." Blossom sighed as she rubbed at her temples. "We're technically not even supposed to know about this, we more or less found out on a… fluke."

"Not to mention that the truth is pretty unbelievable." Buttercup chimed in. "I wouldn't be suspired if you laughed in our faces if we tell you what exactly it was. Any self-respecting person would to be honest."

"Well who is it?" Robin asked, only for Bubbles to shake her head. "Not who Robin… more like _what."_

Robin stiffened and fisted her hands in her lap. "Alright… then tell me… _what_ is responsible for all of this madness." All three sisters were silent for a moment as they tried to think of a way to explain the fanatical reason behind the mass murders. Finally, Blossom rubbed her arms and let a breath of air pass out though her nose.

"I don't think that there's any way to explain this in a logical way, so I think the easiest way is just to come out and say it – much like the way our father told us." The lovely auburn-haired girl leveled with her friend. "Robin… The thing – or rather _things_ that are behind all this are… Lycans."

The brunette was completely silent as she stared at the three sisters in disbelieve. She opened her mouth and small clicking sounds escaped as she tried to string together a coherent sentence in response to their wild claims. Finally, she coughed and sucked in a deep breath.

"Are you three insane?" She finally yelped. "Lycans? You mean _Werewolves?_ Girls you can't honestly expect me to take that seriously. If you three are trying to lighten the mood, then it's not exactly an appropriate time, and I don't appreciate it-"

"Robin, we're serious! Why would we possibly lie about something like that for kicks? Especially since so many people have died as a result?" Bubbles cut in. "Because werewolves don't exist?!" Robin almost screeched. "The only place they exist is in fairytales, and legends – not real life!"

"Robin, we have proof that it is a Lycan that is behind all this." Blossom added, causing the stressed brunette to turn and look at her with a glare. "Actually thee… are behind all of the attacks. I know it sounds unbelievable – trust me, I know – I didn't believe it myself when the idea was first proposed to me, but it was our father and Mitch that told us about everything."

At that, Robin stopped. "Mitch… and your father… said they were werewolves?" she asked confused, prompting Blossom to nod. "Yes, they believe them, because… they saw them… and in Mitch's case, fought them… twice."

Robin looked conflicted before she sighed. "Alright… fine then. Tell me what they told you."

"Well, I don't know how much you know, but the main reason why our family came back to Townsville in the first place was because our Uncle was found completely mauled." Blossom informed her. "The coiner couldn't figure out what had happened to him, because they couldn't match any of the bite marks to a single animal, and so we came back so that our father could take a look and see if he could figure out what had happened to him."

"And?" Robin asked. "What did your father find?"

"He couldn't match it to any one animal either." Buttercup jumped in. "But he did find something in our Uncle's possession that he shouldn't have had."

"Which was?"

"Some sort of a medallion that had gypsy origins of some kind, and our Uncle wasn't superstitious at all." Buttercup pointed out. "So, dad got suspicious and decided to go to the resident gypsy camp and see if he could get some answers."

"But I thought that the camp was attacked?" Robin questioned. "I heard the death toll was staggering… I'm assuming that he went before that happened?"

"Well… actually, he went to see the gypsies on the very night that the camp was attacked." Buttercup muttered. "That's when he saw them… he saw them rip apart so many people, and-"

"I don't need to know details." Robin held up her hand to stop her from going farther. "Just… just tell me what he found out, if he found out anything."

"Only that apparently the medallion that our Uncle had on him was supposed to ward away evil, or some nonsense like that." Buttercup gave a half-hearted shrug as she looked away. "A good lot that did… seeing what ended up happening to him and all."

"Did they know how it came into his possession?" Robin asked, only for Bubbles to shake her head slowly. "Papa never told us if they did or not, he was more focused on getting out of there… the wolves were tearing everything apart… that's when he realized that there were three of them instead of just one like everyone thought there was."

"There are… three?" Robin croaked. "Yes… that's why the town wrote to Mitch and called him in. After what happened at the campsite, people were scared. They didn't know what was going on. Apparently, the numerous attempts to catch them beforehand had all ended in disaster as well. They thought Mitch would be better suited to handle it I suppose." Buttercup muttered.

"Of course, he didn't say anything to us about that night for a while afterwards – after all, our grandfather was one of the ones who was lost in the chaos – and he still didn't believe what he saw either. It was only after Mitch had had a run in with them the first time, and had gotten attacked himself, he did he start to tell us about what was really going on." The lime eyed girl added sullenly, causing Robin to nod again.

"I remember when he got the letter from here." Robin admitted softly. "He didn't tell me what was going on – he just said that he had some urgent business to attend to back here, and he left as soon as he could – but I remembered that it scared him… now I understand why. The woods around these parts have never had a good reputation. The only thing is that people had no idea what was behind all of the killing… if what you're saying is true then…" she buried her face in her hands and let out a groan.

Bubbles reached out to place a hand on her defeated friends shoulder. "Robin? Are you alright?" Robin sighed. "Yes… well… no. no not really. It's just… this is a lot to take in… I mean… werewolves? It's just… hard to believe… even if there is a decent amount of proof to tell me that it is. I just don't know what to believe any more."

"I mean…" Robin paused. "You grow up hearing the stories about them, but you don't actually believe in them… you know that they can't be real… that they're only legend… but now apparently according to your father, and quite a few other people, they are very much real." She shook her head. "Forgive me, it's just a lot to take in."

"Believe me Robin, we know." Buttercup muttered. "We're still trying to make scenes of it ourselves."

"Does anyone else know? In the town I mean?" Robin asked suddenly. Bubbles shook her head. "Not yet. Papa is going to make a public announcement with Kingston Morebucks after this upcoming full moon. He wanted to do it with Mitch when he was first made aware of the creatures, but… obviously that didn't happen according to plan."

"Well why hasn't he told the town already?!" Robin exploded as she looked at each of the girls in turn. "People need to be warned about these things! Werewolves or not, they're still a danger to the town!"

"We know." Buttercup soothed as she patted the distressed brunette on the shoulder. "He was going to announce it with Morebucks and his old lab partner Mojo. He wanted the help of the most influential people in town to have his back so that he didn't look like a complete loon in front of the townsfolk, but surprise, surprise – Mojo didn't believe him, but considering how things have taken a turn from bad to worse recently, he's going to come out and announce it with Morebuck without Mojo."

Robin crinkled her nose. "Mojo, as in Lord Jojo?" she asked hesitantly. Blossom nodded. "That's the one." She confirmed. "Yes, that's right… your father and he used to work together long ago, didn't they?" Robin mused to herself, before giving her head a small shake.

"Well I can understand why he wouldn't want to be a part of this – he's always been… what's the word? Skeptical, of anything regarding legend of mythology of any kind. Or at least, that's how I remember him to be." The blue-eyed girl muttered.

"Apparently, he wasn't always like that, if the little that papa's told us about him is to be believed." Bubbles tacked on. "He mentioned that Mojo liked to experiment a lot when they first started working together."

"Science and mythology don't mix." Robin shook her head slowly. "I've said it once and I'll say it again. Don't misunderstand me, while I love the advancements that science has given us, and the brilliant men like your father that help make it happen – science and myth should never mix… its… unholy."

"That's one way to put it." Bubbles agreed. "I don't know how these creatures came to be, considering how I thought they existed only in the old legends that Townsville has, but it's certainly through… unnatural means."

"Legends always have a bit of truth to them." Robin pointed out softly. "Otherwise we wouldn't have them."

All four girls lapsed into an uneasy silence at the brunette's remark – the only sound in the room was of the old grandfather clock ticking away – each tick sounding exaggeratedly loud in the quiet that had enveloped the room. Robin shifted slightly in her spot on the couch, and cleared her throat, making the triplets look at her with curiosity.

"I hate to keep bringing this up, but do either of you know what happened to Mitch? Or rather, how he got like this? You mentioned that he had two encounters with the creatures?"

"We don't know the details about what happened the second time he ran into those monsters." Buttercup shook her head. "We're still trying to get answers ourselves, but what we do know is that, the first time he saw them, he was with a group of a couple of other hunters in an effort to trap them. It… didn't go as well as they planned… and the other hunters died during fight… Mitch was the only one who made it out." Bubbles coughed lightly as she caught the stern looks her sisters were giving her. The blonde inwardly sighed. _As much as she wanted to be truthful to her old friend, she knew that there wasn't much she could say about what they had seen that night before. No one could know about what they had seen._

"-But as for the second time he met the creatures, we do know a little bit more about what happened, but it isn't much." Bubbles admitted. "For some reason, he decided to go after them alone the second time and that's when he got mauled by them. He was found out by the town's old insane asylum, and was brought back to town by a group of people just in time, but that's all we know so far."

Robin shook her head in disbelieve. "That's not like him at all." She muttered. "He's a professional big game hunter – he's been doing it since he could walk… his whole family does it for God's sake! He knows better then to go after something the caliber alone… what was he doing there by himself?"

"Honestly, that's what we're still trying to figure out." Bubbles mumbled. "But so far, we don't have any answers. We're in the dark just as much as you are… I'm sorry Robin." The blue-eyed brunette shook her head. "No, no. I should be the one thanking you actually. This is the most information about the topic that I've received so far, and I apricate it immensely."

She glanced over at the grandfather clock and sighed as she heaved herself up off the couch. "I'm sorry girls, I didn't realize the time, I believe I've over stayed my visit. I have to head back home now and help Mrs. Michelson prepare supper for tonight."

"Well then here, allow us to walk you to the door." Bubbles offered as she also stood up and ushered the pretty brunette out the living room and towards the main foyer, where her winter accessories were. Gabbing her scarf that was hanging up with her coat, she turned to face the sisters with a serious look in her face. "Aside from everything that's happened, are the three of you alright?"

"We've been better, but we'll make it through." Bubbles assured her calmly. "The most important question is, are _you_ going to be alright Robin?" The blonde asked gently, electing a tiny sigh out of the brunette.

"I still have to give myself some time to let all of this sink in." Robin sighed as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. "As unreal as this sounds, I don't _not_ believe you. The woods around here have always hosted something sinister within them– people have always died in mysterious ways around it. it's been like that for as long as I can remember at least."

"You're not the first person to have said that." Blossom remarked as she handed Robin her coat. "Apparently this has been going on for quite some time."

"Oh, it's been going on for years." Robin informed her as she shrugged on her coat. "The first time I remember it happening, I was about eleven or so. The first person to wind up dead next to the woods was a girl from the village named Julie Bean. Poor thing wasn't much older than we were. The police found her all chewed up… apparently there were bits of her everywhere. Took them ages to find all of her."

"Julie Bean… Now why does that name sound familiar?" Bubbles asked as she tapped her chin. "It should – she was in Kindergarten with us." Robin supplied. "I'd be surprised if any of you actually remembered her, but you did know her, or at least of her."

"She was killed?" Buttercup asked in disbelieve, causing Robin to nod.

"She was the first of many. Of course… there could have been more before her for all we know, but she was the first documented case… and the first one where the police found a body – or rather, what was left of one."

"What did the police have to say about her death?" Blossom inquired as she leaned in towards Robin, causing the brunette to shrug. "Not much honestly, they were completely baffled by it. I believe they ended up ruling her death as accidental – they came to the conclusion that she had probably wandered off into the woods in the dead of night, came across a wolf and it had ended up attacking her and killing her. It's a weak conclusion, but it's all they could think of."

"I'm more concerned about what an eleven-year-old girl was doing outside at night." Blossom muttered. "It had to have been late into the night if her parents didn't know that she was gone until the next morning."

"Simple, it's the same thing that happened to our Uncle." Buttercup muttered bitterly. "She was baited out."

"You don't know that that's what happened to Uncle Eugene." Bubbles murmured as she rubbed her arms. "Nobody knows for certain."

"Well, what else could have happened." Buttercup retorted. "Uncle Eugene was a long-time hunter and adventurer. He knew what to do and what not to do when it came to both of those activities – he had basic common sense, I'm sure of it." she narrowed her eyes dangerously. "and forgive me if I'm wrong, but running off into the woods in the pitch black of night doesn't sound like something he would normally do."

The raven-haired girl took a deep breath in. "What happed to Julie and our Uncle sound eerily similar. If you want my option, I think they both saw something lurking in the woods and went to go investigate. I can't say that's what happened to Julie, since neither of us were here when it happened, but I'm almost certain that's what happened to our Uncle."

"Now that you mention it, Papa did say something about Uncle Eugene being found on farmer Lumpkins land." Bubbles mused before crinkling her nose. "Do you girls remember him? I do a little – he never liked us playing in his fields, and was always waving a shot-gun around. Such a mean man."

"I thought your Uncle lived more in town?" Robin asked puzzled. "At least near the outskirts of town. Lumpkins property is more out towards the Jojo manor than anything else. What was he doing all the way over there?" she snapped her fingers suddenly, "Actually, I think that I remember hearing that Lumpkins got murdered a few months ago… before your Uncle was attacked, that is. Apparently, he had his arm torn clean off by _something."_ The blue-eyed girl shuddered slightly. "I find it almost ironic – that he always had his gun with him, only for his arm to get ripped off by whatever attacked him… I guess the thing didn't like getting shot at very much."

"That's just it, no one knows why he was all the way out there. Papa can't figure it out for the life of him, and Miss. Keane can't think of a good reason either." Blossom sighed as she rested her chin in her hand. "This is all so confusing, and the more we talk about it, the less sense things seem to make."

"Oh yes, I was informed that they were engaged…" Robin sighed as she shook her head ruthfully. "It's such a same, Miss. Keane is a wonderful lady, and she and your Uncle have been infatuated with each other for such a long time. I was so pleased to hear that they were getting married, and now this."

'I'm telling you girls, I think all three of them saw the beasts." Buttercup muttered as he ran a hand though her thick inky locks. "Those things are smart, eerily so – it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they purposely lure people out of their homes to come chasing after them. Not to mention they're very dangerous – take what happened at the gypsy campgrounds a couple of months ago for example. Papa still hasn't told us much about the actual attack on the campgrounds that night, aside from what we've told you. All we know is that he ran into one face to face, and whatever it did, it scared him enough to not say anything about it to anyone… at least… not us anyways."

"We only found out _after_ Mitch faced off with those things for the first time." The blonde swallowed slightly. "and not too long after that, Mitch got attacked again… and well… you know the rest."

Robbin nodded. "Yes… Yes I know." She bit her lip as she turned away from the sisters. "What was he doing out there? All alone, with no back-up, and those… monsters…" she clenched her fists until her knuckles were white. "I need to know. Just what happened in that place. Nothing makes any sense."

"Welcome to the club Robin." Buttercup sighed. "That's how we've felt since we came here." The pale brunette turned to face the dark-haired woman. "Your father is going to tell the town about them, right?"

Buttercup nodded. "Soon, yes."

Robin nodded slowly as she stood up. "Promise me. Promise me that you and father will find the things that did this to my Mitch, and kill them."

An uneasy silence fell over the four women at her request. Finally, Blossom nodded. "I don't know if we'll be the ones to dispose of them, but his injury's will not go unavenged. The town will be told of these creatures soon enough, and then we'll be able to fight back against them. Their tyranny will come to an end."

Robin nodded tensely as she finished putting on her hat and gloves, before straightening up to offer the triplets a weak smile. "Well, despite the conditions… it was really nice to see the three of you again. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Bubbles gave her a genuine smile, as she moved in to hug her. "It was really nice to see you as well – I've missed you so much, it's been so long since we've last seen each other." Robin returned the hug and smiled ruthfully at her. "Yes… this place was never the same after the three of you left… it got… very dark around here afterwards… both figuratively and literally, and I'm not sure what changed exactly."

She looked at the triplets from underneath her eyelashes. "To be completely honest with you all, I'm jealous of you three – you all got out before things went to hell. That's why when Mitch asked me to marry him I didn't hesitate – I knew he was planning on leaving this place and he was my ticket out of here." She looked down, her eyes brimming with tears. "I was so ready to start a new chapter of my life with him, and leave this place behind for good." She admitted softly. "I was so ready to move on and start again in a place far away from here. I really was."

She looked up, allowing a single tear to run down her face as she laughed bitterly. "But now look where I am: I'm back here, and the love of my life is on death's door." She shook her head as she gripped her hands into fists. "I'll be honest with the three of you: I told him that he shouldn't have come back here. I warned him of the danger, but of course he didn't listen to me. He wanted to come back and save this place from the darkness that surrounds it – but I honestly don't think that this wretched place _can_ be saved."

The brunette allowed a small, sad smile to cross her lips. "He always loved playing the hero, and it's one of the things I love most about him… but all it's done so far is nearly get him killed."

She shook her head silently and glanced at all three sisters in turn. "If you need me, I'll be staying with Mitch's grandmother for the next few days, but then I'm departing for the hospital – I don't want to stay here for any longer then I absolutely have too."

Bubbles nodded. "That's understandable, I don't think anyone can blame you for not wanting to stay here. Does the hospital know you're coming up there?" Robin nodded. "Yes, I spoke with them earlier about it, they're willing to house me in the guest wing while Mitch recovers."

"You're welcome to come back here anytime you'd like." Blossom offered gently. "Just in case the hospital becomes too much for you, that way you don't have to stay in town if you don't wish to." Robin offered the stunning ginger haired girl a tiny smile. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."

She straightened her coat and nodded gently at them. "Well girls, thank you for the insight about what's going on around her… please be safe. I'd hate for anything to happen to you three."

"We will, you take care of yourself now." Buttercup murmured as she opened the door, allowing a small gust of cold air to enter the large room. Robin shivered as she moved outside before turning back to look at them one last time. "Tell your parents I said goodbye, and that I'm so sorry that this misfortune had happened to your family… your Uncle was a good person and your Grandfather was such a kind man… They didn't deserve what happened to them."

Bubbles nodded. "We'll pass it along, thank you." Robin gave them one last look before she turned and shut the door behind her, leaving the girls alone in the foyer.

"Well she's just a bright ball of sunshine, isn't she?"

"Buttercup!" Blossom snapped, appalled as she turned to face her middle sister.

"Well you can't blame me." Buttercup put her hand up in defense. "She's not exactly the happy girl that I remember her to be… from the few memories I have of her, that is."

"Her fiancée got brutally mauled, and is currently in a coma, and she's back in the place that is one step away from hell to her – I don't think you can really blame her for not being happier." Blossom countered.

"Oh, I understand that perfectly." Buttercup countered, "I'm just pointing out how this place makes everyone feel. It just sucks the joy out of everyone."

Blossom turned her head slightly to look out the window by the door to watch Robin climb into her carriage and take off down the path that led off their property and back into town. "Yeah… I know." She muttered flatly. "What can we do though?"

"Figure out what's going on, before more people die." Buttercup muttered bluntly, causing Bubbles to pale slightly. "We've still got time before the next full moon, we can still get answers before then, we just have to clever about it."

"and where do you expect to find them?" Bubbles asked as she put her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Who would give us them?"

"Oh, girls there you are, did Robin leave?" All the sisters turned around at the sound of their mother's voice. The curly haired woman appeared behind the trio, looking slightly confused. "She just left, why?" Blossom asked. "I was just going to ask her if Mitch's grandmother needed anything." The statuesque woman pressed her hands together. "I can only imagen how lonely she's been ever since they took Mitch to the hospital. I'm sure she's all right with Robin there now, but something tells me that she's not spending a lot of time at the house either, and I know that she's not in the best of health at the moment, so I was thinking about paying her a visit maybe tomorrow and see if there was anything she needed help doing around the house, or maybe help her take her medication."

She shook her head sadly, letting the large red curls bounce around her face. "I just feel horrible for that poor old woman." She admitted tiredly. "She lost her only son, Mitch's father in a hunting accident some years back, and now something horribly similar had happened to her only grandchild. I'd like to see if there was something I could do for her."

"I'll go!" Buttercup spoke up suddenly, starling Blossom and Bubbles. "I mean… I'll come with you if you decide to go tomorrow. I think that's a great idea mum."

The older woman looked surprised at her middle daughter's eagerness. "Well that's very kind of you to offer Buttercup. I didn't think that you liked these sorts of tasks, normally its Bubbles area of expertise."

"It's my childhood friend's grandmother." Buttercup pointed out. "I haven't seen her in a long time, and I think Mitch would appreciate it if I paid her a visit." Sara considered it for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes, I suppose you're right. If I go there tomorrow, you'll come with me?"

"Sure mum I'd like that. It'll get me out of the house for a little bit." But the gleam in her bright green eyes didn't go unnoticed by Blossom, who only narrowed her own rose ones in suspicion.

Sara beamed at her middle daughter. "Wonderful then, I'll go tell your father that's the plan for tomorrow, I'm sure he won't mind. Blossom, Bubbles darlings, do you want to come as well?"

"No thank you mama. I don't know Mrs. Michelson very well. It was Buttercup who was close to Mitch, not Bubbles or I, and I don't know how well she'd take to having strangers in her home." Blossom quickly covered, nudging Bubbles slightly. The blonde girl caught on to what she was trying to tell her and nodded. "Blossom has a point, I think it'll be better if the two of you go, Bloss and I can stay here and Nanny watch over Gran instead."

"That is true." Sara agreed. "I'll go tell your father. Buttercup, I'll let you know what time to be ready for tomorrow." She gently brushed past them and climbed the grand staircase, calling out for her husband, leaving the girls alone in the foyer. Blossom turned to Buttercup and crossed her arms, quirking a lightly arched eyebrow. "So, would you like to tell Bubbles and I what that was about?"

"She's our ticket." The raven-haired girl responded lightly.

"Who is?" Bubbles asked confused.

"Mrs. Michelson. She's got to know something." Buttercup clarified. "Mitch has bound to have told her something. She's got to be one of the oldest people in town – surly she'll be able to answer some of our questions."

"Really Buttercup? That's all your thinking about? You don't even want to see her?" Bubbles accused lightly, causing her older sister to shake her head. "No, no, it'll be lovely to see her again as well – Truthfully I hardly remember her… but I hope that she'll remember me. Maybe she'll be willing to help us."

"Using an old woman to get information, is this really what we've come to?" Blossom sighed. "We wouldn't have to, if people were honest with us from the get go." Buttercup pointed out jaggedly. "Alright, true." Blossom caved. "You will tell us if you find out anything though correct?"

"Of course. I'd never leave you two in the dark." Buttercup assured the auburn-haired girl with a small pat on the shoulder. "We'll figure this out. I promise."

"At what cost though?" Bubbles sighed. "I guess we'll find out soon enough." Buttercup responded tiredly before shaking her head. "Now if neither of you mind, I'm hungry. Let's go see if Nanny's made something for lunch – We'll worry about this tomorrow." Bubbles opened her mouth to protest, before thinking better of it and shutting it again, following after the green clad girl silently with Blossom in tow – shaking her head lightly at her sister's antics.

She'd it go for now. Once Buttercup decided she was done with something, she would flat-out refuse to discuss it farther, and the blonde knew that it would be pointless to try and push the subject on her any more.

But all three girls knew that it was a conversation that was far from over.

* * *

 **Michelson Household**

"I must admit that I'm still surprised that you want to come Buttercup – don't let me be misunderstood – I'm happily surprised, but you're not normally one to want to help look after the ill. Normally that's your sister's department. I thought things like this made you uncomfortable." Sara stated calmly, as she looked at her middle daughter who was seated across from her in the carriage that was taking them through town towards the Michelson residence, located just on the outskirts of town, and right on the edge of the forest.

"It does. But Mrs. Michelson isn't just some random person." Buttercup argued back as she stared out the window of the carriage, feeling guilt gnaw on the back of her throat.

It was true, while she had every intension of helping the elderly woman if she needed it – she was also going along for her own personal gain – and that made her feel guilty. This was one of the rare times that she wished that she was as selfless as her sisters, but… that wasn't her… it had never been, and never would be. She was tired, and she wanted answers. Hopefully her friend's ageing grandmother would be the key.

"That's very true." Sara agreed softly. "Regardless, I'm glad you decided to come. I know Mitch's friendship means a great deal to you, so I'm happy to see you taking an interest in the rest of his family-"

She paused suddenly as she noticed a woman walking alongside the road, heading in the same direction as they were. "Hold on." The green-eyed woman muttered, as she knocked on the roof of the carriage – signaling for the driver to stop. As the horses slowed to a stop

"Jennifer? Jennifer Keane, is that you?" Sara called out, only to have the shorter woman stop suddenly, and turn to face in their direction. Sure enough, they were met with brilliant blue eyes, framed by short black hair, traits that only the aforementioned woman in town possessed. The petite woman waved politely at them, before moving over to the stopped carriage. "Hello Sara, it's been a little while, how have the last few months been treating you?"

Sara grimaced. "I wish I could say well, but the new year has not been a good one so far, if I'm to be honest with you." Jennifer nodded, running a hand through her short, black bob. "I'm afraid I'm in the same boat. The last few months have just been dreadful. Not just for me, but for the whole town in general."

"Indeed. Can I ask what exactly you're doing out here? It's freezing cold out!" the red clad woman chided the school teacher gently.

"Well where exactly are you going? Can we give you a ride?" the red-haired woman offered as she opened the carriage door invitingly. Jennifer chuckled as she stepped closer. "I wouldn't want to intrude – it looks like you're on a mission- oh hello Buttercup!" she greeted the dark girl upon noticing her sitting in the other side of the carriage. Buttercup waved back sheepishly. "Hello Miss. Keane, how are you?"

"Good hun good." The petite woman smiled warmly at her former student, only for Sara to pat the space next to her. "I'm serious Jennifer: where are you going? We can take you to your destination, it's really not a problem."

"Well… if you insist." Jennifer relented with a sigh as she shut the carriage door and took a seat next to her old friend. "I'm actually on my way to visit Mrs. Michelson. You know were she lives right? Just on the edge of town, before the forest? It's fairly close to where I live, so I just decided to walk there. I needed the fresh air anyways."

"What a coincidence, we were just on our way to pay her a visit as well." Sara responded, knocking on the roof again, signaling that they were ready to go. As the carriage lurched forward she turned to Jennifer again. "We wanted to check in on her and see how she was holding up, with everything that's happened to Mitch and all. Also, I heard that she wasn't doing all that well health-wise either."

"I heard that too." Jennifer admitted with a sigh. "I'm going there for all the same reasons you are. After all, I taught Mitch as well, and Miss. Robin Snyder. I heard that she came back to town a few days ago, and it would be nice to check up on her and see how she's holding up."

"I saw her yesterday." Buttercup admitted. "She wasn't doing too well. The news hit her hard. Not that I blame her of course. But she defiantly wasn't happy. She mentioned something about heading up to the hospital to take care of him while he's in his coma."

Jennifer nodded as she smoothed down her bob. "She's a sweet girl that one. She's a good match for someone like Mitch – someone needs to take care of him, because clearly he doesn't do the best job-" she placed a hand over her mouth. "Forgive me, that was rude."

"True though." Buttercup muttered under her breath as she glanced down at her hands. "What was he thinking? Going after those things alone? That idiot."

"Careful now dear, don't let Mrs. Michelson catch you say that. The poor woman is probably frazzled enough as it is." Sara cautioned her daughter sternly.

"I don't know if frazzled is the right word to call it." Jennifer mumbled. "She's pretty… oh what's a good word for it? Grizzled? She's a tough old lady, but this has definitely taken a toll on her I'm sure."

The group of women fell into silence as the carriage driver steered them towards their destination. After a few minutes, the town's clear-cut scenery began to become obscured by trees, as they headed into the beginnings of the forest. Soon the driver slowed the carriage down as they approved a cozy log cabin, tucked away in the middle of a small clearing. Sara swung open the door and descended to the ground, followed closely by Jennifer and her daughter.

"Thank you sir, we shouldn't be too long, an hour at the most." The statuesque woman offered the driver a beaming smile. "Not a problem ma'am. I'll water the horses while we wait. Have a good time." The older man responded as he slid off his perch and began to tend to his team. Sara beckoned to her friend and Buttercup. "Come along ladies. Hopefully Mrs. Michelson is up and about."

The three ladies quickly climbed the steps up to the front door of the cabin, and Buttercup knocked politely on the door – trying to calm her sudden nerves about being there. There was a slight shuffling sound from inside the cabin, before the door cracked open slightly, to reveal a small woman with graying, white hair – not much taller than her own grandmother – holding a weathered cane.

She squinted up at the strange woman standing on her doorstep. "Who the hell are you?" Buttercup bit back a laugh as she watched shock pass over her mother and teacher's face. "Good afternoon Mrs. Michelson, I… I don't suppose you know who we are, do you?"

"If I knew I wouldn't have asked now, would I?"

Buttercup fought off the urge to laugh again at the older woman's attitude. She now saw where Mitch got his bite from.

Her mother shuffled her weight from one foot to the other. "Would you mind if we came in? It's a little cold out here. I'm almost certain you know who we are."

The elderly woman narrowed her eyes at them as she decided what to do, before she relented with a sigh and held the door open a little farther. "Well alright, do come in. I don't necessarily want anyone freezing to death on my doorstep."

"Thank you." Sara breathed gratefully as she stepped inside the cabin, followed closely by Jennifer and her daughter. Once all three were inside, the tiny woman shut the door behind them, and squinted up at them for several tense moments, before something seemed to click into place. She pointed up at Buttercup and her mother. "You there… you're Sara Bellum- no I'm sorry, Sara Utonuim, are you not? You're the Mayor's daughter, and you married the elder of the Utonium brothers, didn't you? John Utonium?"

Sara nodded. "That's right, I grew up here as a child, do you remember me? And yes, I did. This is one of my daughters," she placed a hand on Buttercup's shoulder. "I don't suppose you remember my Buttercup, do you? She was quite close with your grandson Mitch when they were children."

The smaller woman narrowed her eyes at the ink-hair girl, only for a spark of recognition to spark through them. "Ah yes, I do. It's been a long time my dear. Your appearance might have changed, but your eyes," she raised a trembling hand to point at the young woman's eyes. "Your eyes remain the same. Your eyes give everything away."

"Ah, thank you?" Buttercup mumbled as she shuffled her feet awkwardly, not knowing what to say to the small lady in response.

"Oh, don't worry my dear, it's meant as a compliment – you have the brightest shade of green that I've ever seen in all my years. They're hard to forget." The older woman clarified with a tiny grin, as she redirected her attention to the final woman in the trio. "Ah, Mrs- or should I say _Miss_ Keane. I haven't seen you around town much since what happened to Eugene… poor man, he didn't deserve that."

Jennifer hung her head. "I know… he… I've… I've been getting that a lot recently." Sara placed a pacifying hand on her friend's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "There, there Jen, let's not discuss it." the curly haired woman sent the graying woman a guarded look. "It's still a difficult subject for both of our families to talk about Mrs. Michelson, If you don't mind – I'd appreciate it if we steered away from it."

"Yes, yes, of course." The older woman muttered as she tapped her cane on the ground. "You taught my Mitch and the girls when they were much younger as well, didn't you?"

"I did yes." Jennifer confirmed softly. "I taught Robin as well. I was hoping to get a chance to visit with her while we were here, seeing that I haven't seen her since she left town with Mitch over a year or so ago, but it doesn't seem like she's here at the moment."

"Not at the moment no. She left for the hospital where he's being kept last night, and from what I've been told, there're putting her up in the visitor's ward for a little while, so she might not be back for a few days." The smaller woman informed the school teacher, before quickly becoming to them. "Well do come in. What kind of hostess would I be if I kept you three ladies at my back door for the entirety of your trip here?"

The three ladies quickly unlaced their boots and hung their coats up by the door, as they allowed the short woman to slowly lead them into the cozy log cabin. As they rounded the corner into the living room, Buttercup felt her mother hesitate from behind her, as all three took in what she could only assume was the living room. Bags and other hunting supplies were littered around the lofty room, covering the floor and furniture, and a thin layer of dust had started to settle onto of the uncovered surfaces, leading the dark-haired girl to believe that it had been a while since anyone had last used the living room.

"Oh Mrs. Michelson, this place is-"

"A mess I know. Before you say anything, it's not mine, it's Mitch's, and maybe a bag belongs to Robin. As much as I love my grandson, he was never a clean child, and he took that trait with him into his adult years. I've been meaning to tidy it up, but between what happened to him, and my arthritis, I haven't been able to clean it. Normally I'm a very good housekeeper, but my bones aren't what they used to be unfortunately. Robin was going to stay behind to help me clean it, but I sent her off, I'd rather her keep an eye on Mitch for me, and let me know if he gets any worse."

Buttercup paused as she took a closer look at the older woman. Sure enough, she could see that the smaller woman was shaking slightly, and her mouth had been pulled back into a small, but noticeable grimace – giving her the impression that the older woman was in more pain then she was letting on.

"Mrs. Michelson, do you have any medication of your arthritis-"

"Oh, please my dear, you can just call me Nan. I remember how you and my Mitch played together as children way back when. He'd be happy that you're here." The older woman nodded to herself sharply. "I do have some medication that I take to easy my aches though, yes. It's in my room. I don't like it though – it tastes bad and make me all groggy."

Sara clapped her hands together once. "I have an idea. Buttercup, why don't you help Mrs. Michelson get her medication, and Jennifer and I can tidy up in here a little bit? It'll give us some time to catch up."

"Nonsense, I couldn't possibly get two ladies of your esteemed status to clean my damn living room." The elderly woman protested, only for Sara to shake her head. "No, honestly it's fine. Just because we grew up in privileged families, doesn't mean we're helpless. I have three daughters after all – I've very used to cleaning up." She nudged Buttercup and sent her a wink. "Besides, I insist, and I don't think Jen has a problem with it."

"Not at all." The short haired woman responded with a shake of her head. "I'd be happy to help, it's the least I could do."

"Well if you're insisting, I won't turn down the help." The older woman chuckled. "I won't lie: it'd be nice to see my living room floor again."

"Well it's settled then, Buttercup, you follow Mrs. Michelson and help her with her medication, and Jen and I will stay here and tidy up a little." Sara hummed with a small wink. "You two can have a nice chat while you're at it. Maybe she can tell you what you and Mitch used to do around town, after all – you two were quite the pair of troublemakers when you were younger."

"That I can do." The smaller woman chuckled as she tapped Buttercup's knee with her cane. "Come along girl, I keep my medication in my room. We can talk there."

"We'll see you in a little while." Sara assured her daughter, as she rolled up the sleeves on her dress slightly, prompting Jennifer to do the same. The short haired woman nodded encouragingly at her former pupil. "We'll come get you when we're done. Have fun Buttercup!"

"Oh, you know me… I always do." Buttercup muttered to herself, suddenly feeling nervous about the exchange that was about to happen with the old matriarch. She followed her down a narrow hallway to a door near the end. Pushing it open slightly, the old woman reveled a dark room with a bed and a nightside table placed beside it. Upon farther inspection, she saw that there were two plush looking chairs pushed in front of a small fireplace near the bed, giving the room a cozy feeling.

The elderly woman slowly shuffled over to one of the chairs and sat down in with a slight groan, rubbing her knees and wrists lightly. "Damn bones, always acting up when I don't want them to." She grumbled sourly as she gestured for Buttercup to step into the room. "Now be a dear and go to the medical cabinet over there." The older woman pointed towards a small cabinet hanging on the opposite wall of the room. "The medication I'm looking for is in a green bottle that's half empty. It's a syrup of sorts, I won't make you give me my actual pills – that I can do myself. Also, here's a spoon." She chucked as she fished a spoon off of the small night table by her bedside.

"Right of course." Buttercup mumbled as she took the spoon from her and strode over to the cabinet and opened it, only for her eyes to widen slightly at the number of medical bottles that lay within.

"I won't lie to you girl, you've caught me on a good day." The older woman admitted softly as Buttercup rummaged around in the medical cabinet. "Sometimes I don't recognize people at all… even if they've lived in the town for many years like Miss. Keane out there."

Buttercup paused for a moment as the implication of the elderly woman's words slowly sunk in. She looked over her shoulder at the smaller woman, just as she caught sight of the bottle of medication that she had been looking for. Pulling it out, she slowly made her way over to her and sat down in the chair across from her.

"Mrs- I mean, Nan… Are you… do you have dementia?"

"You caught me." The old woman responded with a weak grin. "I found out almost a year ago now. I had my suspicions when my train of thought started leaving me more then it normally did, but then when I found I couldn't always remember certain people… well, that's when I started getting really concerned."

She sighed. "It's been acting up quite a bit lately of I'm honest. That's why I'm glad that Mitch came home when he did – he made sure I was always taking my medications, the doll. It helps a little, but I hate it. The pills that were prescribed to me seem to do more harm then good most days, but my darling grandson insists that I take them." She shook her head. "I avoid it when I can though. The pills… turn me into someone else."

"I… well, are you sure that's not just in your head?" Buttercup asked timidly. "I know back at home, my father was working on some new, experimental drugs in his spare time that were supposed to-"

"I might be going senile darling, but I haven't lost my mind just yet." The older woman snorted, as she waved away her concerns. Buttercup hesitated as she glanced down at the dark bottle of syrup in her hand, unsure of what to do with it. The graying woman must have seen the look on her face, because she only shook her head.

"It's fine girl, that bottle in your hand is more or less to treat the pain that I have, it's the pills that make me hazy, and I don't take them if I can get away with it. Besides, the effects are only temporary… for now anyways."

Buttercup sighed as she poured the contents of the bottle onto the spoon, before gently feeding it to the elderly woman, who scrunched up her nose at the taste. "It could taste better though."

Buttercup nodded tensely as she took a seat across from the eldest member of the Michelson family. "So Mitch and I used to be troublemakers huh?"

"Oh yes, do you remember? I was surprised that I girl who came from such a prestigious family such as yours would be into rough-housing with my Mitch, but you've always been more of a spit-fire then your sisters, haven't you? Bless them."

"I remember getting into a few shenanigans with him." Buttercup admitted with a chuckle. "Not much else aside from that though. Everything's pretty hazy. It was a long time ago after all."

"Yes… yes it was, wasn't it?" the aging matriarch muttered under her breath as she shot Buttercup a hooded look. "You were what? Five or so when you left? No wonder you don't remember much – but then, maybe that's for the better."

"What do you mean?" Buttercup asked as she narrowed her eyes slightly. "I might be slowly losing my mind my dear, but I can tell that you didn't just come to be courteous." The elderly matriarch leveled with her. "You've got another reason for coming here, don't you?"

"… Alright… fine. You're right, I didn't just come here to help out – but that is part of the reason." Buttercup quickly added, prompting the older woman to stare at her quizzically. The raven-haired girl sucked in a breath – praying that Matriarch of the Michelson family would be willing to tell her what she needed to know.

"I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the… Jojo family."

At the mere mention of the name, the elderly woman sucked in a sharp breath and spat on the ground. "Cursed family, the lot of them. Everybody knows that girl."

"Well, I knew they weren't particularly well-liked." Buttercup muttered as she rubbed at her bitten arm subconsciously. "But I was wondering if you could tell me why that is. nobody is really willing to discuss that with me or my sisters."

"It is bad luck to talk about them." The older woman responded sourly. "They are a very old family, and one that has seen much misery and death in the hundreds of years that they've been here, and they like to spread that luck to this town and its inhabitants."

"What do you mean?"

The old matriarch sat back in her chair and regarded the exotic looking girl reproachfully. "Why exactly do you want to know girl?"

Buttercup sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with the older woman if she didn't budge a little. "I'm trying to find out what exactly happened to Mitch the night he was attacked at the asylum. There are too many loose ends, and I think that the triplets _might_ know something about what happened to him."

"Know something?! Hell girl, they _did this to him!"_ the elderly woman suddenly shrieked, causing Buttercup to almost jump out of her chair in shock from the sudden outburst.

"Hold on, I said I think they might know something that the rest of us don't, I didn't say they were the ones that did it!" Buttercup tried to clarify, but her words fell on deaf ears.

"No, they did this to my grandson, _they alone!"_ the old woman snarled viciously as she wacked her cane off the ground, causing Buttercup to rise from her chair. "Nana, I find the coincidence odd as well – believe me I do – but until I have some solid proof that they actually were involved with what happened to Mitch, I can't just go around saying that they did – though granted, it would be much easier." She muttered under her breath, as she tried to calm the erratic woman down.

"I need to know though… what makes you so sure that they did this to him?"

The older woman sat back in her chair again, and gave the dark girl a stern look. "They are cursed my dear, and I don't say that lightly." Buttercup sighed as she leaned forward. "I understand that, but could you possibly tell me why that is? No one has bothered to explain it to me or my sisters."

"Anyone who associates with that family either winds up dead or missing." The old woman hissed. "and it's not just one or two secluded incidents either – it's happened countless times over the years. Just ask anyone in town and they'll tell you about the countless servants and other help that that family has hired that have gone missing – not to mention countless travelers, or people visiting town who vanish simply by wandering too close to the property at night." She panted for a moment, catching her breath, before continuing on.

"Don't you find it odd that their last house hands just suddenly disappeared? Not that I care, mind you – they were odd from the get-go – but typically three men don't just vanish off the face of the Earth."

"When I asked, they said that they had been let go indefinitely." Buttercup recalled with a frown. "Said something about their behavior becoming too much to handle, or something along those lines."

"Of course they'd say that." The elderly Grandmother shot back with a bitter chuckle. "They'll never come out-right and admit what they've really done to them. All families have their secrets mind you, and they tend to have more than most. That whole family is shrouded in mystery. The biggest one being the birth of Mojo's sons.

"It's not just the sons though. Something isn't quite right about them granted, but I'd say that it all stems from their _father_ if you ask me."

"Mojo? I can't necessarily argue with you there, he's a bit of an odd one, but I always got the impression that he was harmless. Quirky, but harmless." Buttercup agreed. "What's so wrong with him?"

"Remember how I said that that family has seen its fair share of tragedy?" the graying woman asked carefully. "Well, back quite a few years ago, before you, your sisters and my darling Mitch were born, Lord Mojo's parents, Lord and Lady Jojo died mysteriously in that very house. If I remember correctly it was during the time that your father and Mojo were still working together… Actually, it was close to the time he met his wife. It was an odd match, seeing how she came from a large family of gypsy's… oh what was her name again..." the older lady snapped her fingers as she tried to

"Lady Sedusa." Buttercup chimed in softly with wide eyes. _She hadn't been expecting to learn about this. She made a mental note to tell her sisters everything that she had learned once she got back to the manor – there were too many things that she was learning about to keep track of all by herself._

"That's the one." The older woman nodded. "His parents never approved of her. They didn't want their only son and heir marrying a common girl, much less a gypsy – but he didn't listen. Some people say it was out of love… I say it was for… something else." She tapped her fingers against her lips in thought for a moment. "About a year after they married, they both died suddenly. It came as a complete shock, both were always in good health. Rumor has it they had been poisoned… How? No one knows exactly. Some say it was an accident… but I and a few of the other elders think that they were poisoned... bugger knows how that happened."

A foggy look entered the older woman's eyes as she stared at something that Buttercup couldn't see. "Come to think of it, quite a few people have died in that house. Almost every single immediate family member of the Jojo family has, and a number of the servants as well."

Buttercup recoiled slightly at the information. _She hadn't known that. She had figured that the house had been in the Jojo's possession for a long time, but she hadn't known that a good portion of the family had died in the house. Had her father known? He had to have had some idea – after all, he had known Mojo since they had both been young, he had to know more about some of the Jojo clan's more well-kept secrets than anyone else._

"-and what do you know? Not long after their birth of their sons, Lady Sedusa suddenly vanished as well, and no one has seen her since." The elderly Michelson finished with a small huff as a sad look passed over her face.

"It's been years and still no one knows what happened to her. I know she had some… personal issues – anyone could see that she wasn't always here in the present – but she seemed to head into a downwards spiral after she became pregnant with her sons. After she became pregnant with them, she locked herself away in that house, and we didn't see much of her after that." She shook her head. "Hell, half the town is still separated on whether or not they're Mojo's biological children. If you haven't noticed, they don't exactly look like him, and the nature of their birth is still a mystery."

She waved her hand dismissively before the lime eyed woman could open her mouth to ask any questions. "But that's for another day. You can hear the theories about that from anyone." She shifted in her chair, and rested her withered hands on her cane in front of her.

"and so, you think that the family is… cursed, because of all of the odd deaths, and… secrets surrounding the place?" Buttercup clarified. Granted, she was staring to think the same thing the longer she talked to the elderly Michelson. She was learning more and more about the Jojo family then she ever thought she would have, and the more she was told, the wearier she was starting to grow. It sounded like they had more skeletons in their closet then she realized…

The elderly woman shook her head, clearing the far-away look in her eyes. "I know how it sounds, believe me I do – I might be old, and my mind might be starting to go – but I'm not insane. If you had lived here for as long as I have and seen the things that I've seen, you'd understand why I think these thigs."

The elderly matriarch pushed her bony shoulders forward, allowing small popping noises to escape them before dropping her voice slightly. "I don't necessarily believe in curses my dear – karma yes – but curses, no. That's a bit of a stretch – _however-"_ she paused. "That family… I do believe is cursed. There's no other way I can describe it."

A slight knocking on the door brought both woman out of the shroud of silence that had enveloped them as they talked. _"Buttercup? Honey? Jennifer and I just finished cleaning up around the house a little, and we're ready to go now. Are you just about done?"_

"Yes, I think I'm done." Buttercup called back, "I'll be out in just a moment, I'm just finishing up a conversation with Mrs. Michelson."

" _Very good dear, would you mind if we made a small detour on the way back home, and take Jennifer back home?"_ her mother asked through the door. Buttercup shook her head, only to realize her mother couldn't see what she was doing. "No that's fine, I'll be out in a minute!" she called back, as she slowly stood up. "Thank you for your time Nan, I really do appreciate the insight you've given me."

"You're a smart girl. I see no reason to sugar-coat the truth from you unlike some people." The elderly woman murmured. "You care about my Mitch just as much as I and Robin do. I want justice for what happened to him, and if your father is going to make it happen, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"Believe me, it's much apricated." Buttercup responded as she bent down to give the frail woman a hug. "My sister's and I have been in the dark for so long, and our father's only recently started to inform us as to what's been going on around here – with some prodding from Mitch naturally."

"Yes, yes, he was always one for action." The old woman rumbled as she slowly pushed herself up from the chair, grabbing her cane as she rose. She beckoned Buttercup to follow her to the door as she slowly pushed it open. "I do thank you for taking the time to come visit me my dear. It's been such a long time since I've seen your face. Pass my best along to your sisters, will you?"

"I will of course, thank you." The dark girl nodded politely as the older woman guided them along to where her mother and former teacher were waiting for them by the front door. "I thank you ladies, for coming along to my humble home – it's nice to have some visitors stop by and help out around here. My joints aren't what they used to be unfortunately."

"It's no trouble Mrs. Michelson." Sara spoke warmly to the older woman. "I just wanted to check and see how you were doing, and Buttercup wanted to come along as well. It was a happy coincidence that we ran into Jennifer on our way over."

"Yes, in light of the situation, I felt the need to check on you as well. Mitch was one of my students many years ago, same as Robin and the girls. As I said earlier, I was hoping to get the chance to talk to her while we were here, but I think it's better that she's with Mitch right now." Jennifer admitted with a small frown, causing the matriarch of the Michelson family to simply nod her head in understanding.

"Well I appreciate it regardless. It's been too long since the last time that I was able to dust a little around here." The older woman sighed. "Really, I'm almost ashamed that such respectable ladies such as yourselves did that for me."

"Nonsense, we did it because we wanted to." Sara scoffed as she waved the elderly woman's concerns away. "We just wanted to see how you were holding up."

"I've been better." The gray-haired woman muttered sourly under her breath before speaking up again. "But I understand that you have to leave now, I'll see you out if you'll let me."

The elderly figure-head waited for the younger woman to finish putting on their coats and boots before ushering outside to their waiting carriage. Sara opened the door and graciously allowed Jennifer to step inside before turning back to Mrs. Michelson. "Thank you for allowing us into your home ma'am, I know things have been difficult for you and your family lately, and I appreciate that you allowed us into your home on such short notice."

"You cleaned my house up a little bit – you and your brood are more then welcome here anytime you wish." The older woman replied with the faintest hint of a smile, as she offered the red clad woman a small wave as she climbed in after Jennifer. "I hope to see you again some time." She sighed lightly before turning her attention to Buttercup, and nodded towards the carriage. "You'd best be going now my dear. I hope I helped clear up a few of your questions." she paused briefly. "For what it's worth: it was nice to see you again – this town has missed you and your family."

Buttercup blew out air through her nose. "I wish I could say the same about here."

The elderly woman nodded solemnly. "You take care yourself now girl – I don't know what exactly it is that you're up to, but I don't want to hear of anymore fatalities."

Buttercup froze up under the gray-haired matriarch's intense gaze, wondering how she had come to that conclusion, but decided to let it go – she had more important things to worry about then the elderly woman's suspicions. Instead, she nodded quickly and turned around to face the carriage and began to walk towards it – only to be called back suddenly.

"Buttercup. One more thing."

The stern tone in the older woman's voice made her turn around to face her again. The elderly matriarch gripped her cane tightly in one hand as she used her other to balance herself against the door

"The youngest brother… the one with the blonde hair… Beau, or whatever his name might be… he came to see Mitch not long before he was attacked. I don't know what was said between them, but that family is not what they seem. Watch yourself."

And with that, the elderly woman shut the door – leaving the dark-haired girl with an unpleasant felling in the pit of her stomach.

"Buttercup?"

She whirled around to face her mother and former teacher, who were both seated in the carriage, looking at her expectantly. "What was that about darling?"

Buttercup sucked in a breath, and for a moment, considered telling her mother all about what she had discovered, and the real reason why she had wanted to come to see Mitch's Grandmother. For the first time in her life – she admitted that she was more lost and confused the she had ever been in her life, and now all she wanted was for someone to point her in the right direction.

But… the dark-haired girl hesitated before dropping her head slightly. She couldn't. She couldn't tell her now – not when they were so far in. she would leave it to her father to explain the severity of the situation to their mother. For now, she had her own problems to deal with.

She forced a strained smile on her face and pulled herself into the carriage, sitting across from her mother, and would-be Aunt. "Nothing mum. Everything's fine." She turned her head to glace out the window, back at the snow-covered, log cabin as the carriage slowly pulled away.

"Everything's just fine."

* * *

 **Bellum Manor**

The trip back to the manor was a silent one. Buttercup sat across from her mother in silence. They had dropped Jennifer off at her home near the center of town, and now they were heading back home.

The sultry onyx haired girl looked at her mother from underneath her thick eyelashes, wondering if she should take the time to ask her mother about the things that the elderly Michelson had told her. They were alone, and she doubted that she would get another opportunity to ask. Making up her mind, the ravenette cleared her throat.

"Hey… mum? Can I ask you something?" Buttercup finally asked quietly, causing the voluptuous woman to look up at her with a soft smile. "Of course love, what is it?"

"I… Well I was… No, ah, I guess what I'm trying to ask is-" Buttercup took a deep breath in, "I was wondering if you could confirm a few things about Townsville that Mrs. Michelson was telling me?"

Sara frowned slightly as she looked at her daughter questioningly. "I can try. What exactly was she telling you?"

Buttercup sighed as she tried to think of a way to bring up what she was told with her mother – knowing that her delivery was everything, however Sara mistook her daughter's silence for something else. "Buttercup if she said something to upset you at all, please tell me, I'm your mother and all I want to do is protect you-"

"No mum, no, it's not anything like that, I promise." She quickly interjected before the voluptuous woman could get another word out. "Believe me if it was that, then I'd tell you. No, everything's fine. She was just telling me a bit about the town's history is all."

"Ah… I see." The curly haired woman replied hesitantly as she folded her hands in her lap – refusing to look her middle daughter in the eyes. It didn't go unnoticed by her, and the exotic looking girl coughed, grabbing her mother's attention again.

"Hey mum?" she asked hesitantly. "I remember when we first came back here, you mentioned that you knew Lady Sedusa from when you were a little girl… do you think you could tell me more about her?"

The older woman froze up at the mention of the name, and her own set of green eyes fixed on her daughter's. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Well, she seems to be a mystery to everyone." Buttercup ventured cautiously. "Even the boys are unwilling to talk about her, and no one seems to know much about her… save for you and dad apparently."

Her mother sighed and shut her eyes as she rubbed at her temples. "There's a reason for that." She muttered under her breath. "Even I don't know what's become of her." After a moment, the statuesque woman opened her eyes, but instead of looking at her daughter, she turned to stare out the window – taking in the snow-covered landscape that was passing them by.

"Yes, it's true… Sedusa and I grew up here in Townsville together, along with my cousin Felicity. The three of us attended school together and we always had a great deal of fun together."

"Aunt Felicity? The one Aunt who's coming back from Megaville to take over the manor for us?" Buttercup quirked an eyebrow, prompting her mother to nod slightly. "That's her, I don't think you and your sisters ever met her – she was gone before you were all born – personally I think that's for the better, she was… a bit of a nuisance growing up." Sara muttered as she tapped her fingernails against the glass.

She sighed before continuing. "Sedusa came from a very large family of gypsy's, and an even longer line of… seer's, I think is the word that she used to call them." She brushed back some of her red curls from her face "She had what you could call, a rough start in life. She was ostracized by her family, I never understood the reason why – she never told me – but she hated them, and she spent as much time as she possibly could away from them… meaning she spent most of her time with me growing up."

A faraway look entered her eyes and she sighed. "Normally that would have never have happened – gypsy communities typically keep to themselves and very rarely let their children associate with outsiders, but they let her have free reign. I suppose it was one of the few perks about being the black sheep of her family – the father she was away from them, the more relaxed they were, and the happier she was."

"and Grandma and Grandpa didn't mind that a gypsy child practically lived with you by the sounds of it?"

"Oh no. They saw her as just another child, and they were always so welcoming. They never met her family either thankfully – they just gave her a bed to sleep in when things back at home got too bad, and they often did."

She was silent for a moment be she muttered quietly. "I was so pleased when Mojo took an interest in her when we got older. Why wouldn't he after all? She was gorgeous, and I had hoped that by marring him, he would give her the life that she deserved, and that it would take her away from her relatives, seeing how her relationship with them deteriorated farther as she got older." She let out a bitter snort as a grim smirk crossed her red lips.

"It did one of those alright. She married him without much thought honestly – anything to get her away from her family – which it did, but they also disowned her when she got married to Mojo, so it really didn't change much between them…" she finally locked eyes with her daughter. "I had hoped that she would lead a happier life with him, but of course, it didn't work out like that. Nothing was ever that simple for Sedusa. I… don't know what happened behind closed doors, but from the little that she told me – being married to him was no easy feat. He was a difficult partner, to say the least."

She straightened up slightly in her seat as the manor slowly came into view on the horizon. "The last time I saw her was when she was about to give birth to the boys. The poor thing looked as if she hadn't slept in days, and when I tried to congratulate her on her pregnancy, she almost bit my head off."

Sara rubbed her temples, before lacing her hands together and resting her chin on them. "Something about her… changed. I don't know how else to describe it. I was so excited that she was expecting – after all, I had just had you and your sisters, and I was so happy that you three would have some friends to grow up with, but she never-" she cut herself off and her lower lip trembled. "I just don't know what happened to her. It's still a mystery to me."

"Can I tell Blossom and Bubbles this, or is this something that you want to keep inbweetween us?" Buttercup questioned gently – not wanting to push her luck, and spoil the unusually honest conversation she had just had with her mother. "No, no, you can tell them if you wish." Sara sighed. "I try and be fair to all of you, and it wouldn't be fair if I only told you this and asked you to keep it from your sisters – god knows what I tell you is going to be the most honest version of what you're going to hear about her."

"People seem to be a little opinionated about her." Buttercup agreed, causing Sara to nod slightly. "They all have different thoughts about her, but they didn't know her like I did." The red clad woman slowly pushed herself up as the carriage came to a stop in front of the house, and opened the door for both to leave. "I hope you wouldn't mind if I asked you to tell them yourself? Talking about her has never been an easy thing for me, and I don't particularly want to repeat myself again."

"I'll tell them mum, don't worry about it." Buttercup promised as she exited the carriage. "Thank you for sharing this with me… I know you cared about her. It sounds like the two of you were very close."

"She was like a sister to me." Sara sighed softly as she hopped off after her daughter. "Oh, how time changes things, and not always for the better."

Buttercup remined silent as her mother strode towards the door and opened it without another word. She had never seen her normally upbeat mother act in such a quiet and secretive manner before, and she would be lying if she said that it didn't put her on edge. She followed after her, and proceeded to unlace her boots and hang her cloak up by the door, just as Blossom and Bubbles descended the grand staircase in front of them.

"Oh, mama, Buttercup, you're back already!" Bubbles chirped happily as she moved forward to give each of them a hug. Sara smiled softly at her youngest and planted a kiss on her the crown of her head. "Yes, my dear, we've returned."

"How was your visit with Mrs. Michelson?" Blossom questioned as she quirked an eyebrow knowingly at her sister. _I'll tell you in a minute._ Buttercup mouthed back as she finished untying her boots.

"Oh, we ran into Jennifer- or rather Miss. Keene, while we were over there." Sara informed them. "She had come by to check on her as well, so we decided to help tidy up the house a little, and Buttercup decided to be an angel and give that nice old woman her medicine and keep her company while we cleaned."

"No Robin?" Bubbles asked. "Not when we were there." Sara replied. "She had left an hour or so before to go check on Mitch in the hospital – apparently he came down with a bit of a fever earlier – I think that she might be staying the night."

"He's still not up yet is he?" Bubbles muttered as she twisted a piece of her golden hair inbweetween her fingers worriedly. Sara shook her head.

"No. They have no idea when he'll wake up. The damage is still too extensive for them to say, the only thing they can do is monitor him closely in the meantime." The curly haired woman ran a tired hand through her hair as she patted her daughter fondly on the shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me girls, I'm going to go check Grandma, and then see if Nanny needs any help with supper – I love him, but god knows your father is no help in the kitchen what-so-ever."

She smiled weakly and gently brushed past her daughters and headed down the hallway towards where Nanny and her mother were probably located. As soon as she had disappeared from view, Blossom turned to her green-eyed sister. "Well?" she whispered. Buttercup said nothing in return, and beckoned for both her and Bubbles to follow her up the stairs. Both did so without hesitation and wordlessly followed Buttercup down the hallway until they reached her room. The obsidian haired girl pushed the door open and ushered them in, shutting the door and locking it behind them, before turning around to face them.

"You two would not _believe_ the things I've heard about the Jojo's."

Bubbles looked at Blossom before raising a perfectly arched eyebrow. "So you _did_ find out some more things about them."

"Oh boy did I ever. There are so many things that we had no clue about. This family has more secrets then President." Buttercup grumbled as she crossed her arms. "Christ, where do I start?"

"How about with the beginning? That seems like a logical place to start." Blossom intervened as she sat down on Buttercup's bed, patting the spot beside her for Bubbles to sit. Buttercup snorted as she leaned against her dresser, facing her sisters. "Right, well, how about I tell you what Nana- I mean Mrs. Michelson told me?"

"That's what I'm most curious about – she must know plenty about that family." Bubbles agreed, causing Buttercup to nod. "Oh hell yes, and boy oh boy, did she have a lot to say on them – she told me all sorts of secrets that I would have _never_ have even thought of."

She sighed as she ran a hand though her onyx hair. "There are so many things about the Jojo's that we probably would have never found out about if she hadn't lived here for as long as she has. She's seen so many things over the years, it's unbelievable." The girl sighed. "First of all, she's completely convinced that the entire family is cursed. Apparently its common knowledge that quite a few people have gone missing around the family over the years – not to mention that most of the Jojo family has died in that house – including both of Mojo's parents, the last Lady and Lord of Townsville – so the place as garnered a little bit of a reputation with the locals."

"Oh god, people have died in there?" Bubbles groaned as she rubbed her arms – shuddering violently. "I didn't need to know that part."

"The house has apparently been in the Jojo's possession for several generations if I'm correct." Blossom pointed out. "I would expect that at least one member of the family has passed in it over the years, do go on Buttercup."

"Yeah well that's not all. If you want to hear a little bit of juicy gossip that's going around, then get this: the town is pretty divided over the boys." Buttercup snorted, causing Bubbles to blink owlishly – seeming not quite understanding what her sister had just said.

Blossom quickly voiced her opinions. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nan told me that ever since the boys were born the town has been split over whether or not they're Mojo's biological children or not." Buttercup clarified, causing both sisters to fall silent as they processed what they had just been told.

"But… of course they're his sons." Bubbles said slowly. "He claims they're his own, and he certainly treats them as such as far as we've seen. Why would he lie about his own children?"

"Just because he says they're his, doesn't necessarily mean that they really are his." Blossom pointed out softly. "He could just be saying that as a cover up, maybe he can't actually have heirs of his own… not that it really matters or anything – I don't really know why the town would be so focused on that of all things."

"Well I mean if you haven't noticed, they don't exactly look like him… at all." Buttercup pointed out sourly. "Mojo barely makes five feet and the boys tower over six. And physically… there's hardly any resemblance at all. If we didn't know them prior to coming here, I would have never had guessed that they were related."

"Looks aren't always hereditary." Blossom added on. "But I will admit that there really isn't any resemblance between them at all. It is of course possible that they just take after their mother's side more so then anything."

"Which brings me to _her…_ Their mysterious mother." Buttercup spoke up suddenly. "I didn't think it was possible to find a more secretive woman in this town, but my god was I wrong."

"Well what did Mrs. Michelson have to say about her… Lady Sedusa?" Bubbles asked. "I'm curious to find out more about her if I can, none of the boys want to talk about her… did she do something bad?"

"Not that I or anyone else knows of at least." Buttercup responded with a half shrug. "She was pretty secretive, even before she married Mojo, but Nan did tell me this about her: She came from a pretty long line of gypsy's herself, and Mojo's parents didn't necessarily approve of him marrying her, but he did anyways. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that Nan mentioned that both of them died shortly afterward. She thinks they were poisoned, or something like that."

"WHAT?" Both Blossom and Bubbles gaped. "I don't know, I don't know if that last part it true or not. I'm just going off of what I was told." Buttercup shook her head. "I didn't really believe it when I heard it either… but it is strange… how both of them just died suddenly. But I'm going to overlook that fact until I get some solid proof that's what really happened." She sighed as she rubbed her temples. "But as far as I know, she's definitely the boy's mother – apparently according to Nan, she went mad after becoming pregnant with them, or something to that effect, and locked herself away. The town didn't see much of her after that."

"Well if she's their real mother, wouldn't that make Mojo the boy's definite father?" Bubbles questioned. "They're married after all, and she clearly didn't get pregnant until after she married him, so the timeline adds up."

"Unless they're bastards." Buttercup pointed out in snidely.

"BUTTERCUP!"

"I'm just saying!" the lime eyed woman put her hands up in response to her fuming blonde sister's shout. "Maybe they were a product of infidelity, and Mojo's just too proud to admit it, so he raised them as his own, knowing that they were the best he was ever going to get – it's happened before."

"As terrible as that sounds, she brings up a good point." Blossom admitted. "I can see why some people in town might think that, but again, it's not really any of their business what goes on behind closed doors… it is… interesting regardless I suppose, but now I think I understand why the boys don't like coming into town."

"Yeah, no kidding. If all you heard was whispering about whether or not your father is actually your father, I wouldn't really want to come into town either." Bubbles sighed. "Did Mrs. Michelson say anything else about Lady Seduas?"

"No that's about it." Buttercup admitted. "She obviously wasn't close to the family enough to know about their inner workings, she only knows what she saw with the rest of the town. She just warned me to be careful around them."

She paused. "and she wasn't the only one who had something to say about their mother… mum had a bit to say on her too."

"…What did mama have to say about her?" Bubbles asked quietly.

"You remember that she mentioned that she and Sedusa grew up together here?" she asked as she shot both of her sisters a hooded look, watching as both nodded silently. "Well, on the way back home, she told me that Sedusa was… basically an outcast in her own family. She didn't tell me why, but Sedusa basically spent her entire life growing up here with her instead of with her own family."

"That's interesting." Blossom muttered as she tapped her chin with her fingers. "Brick never even mentioned what her life before she married Mojo from the little that he told me about her anyways… It makes me wonder if he knew about that."

"I don't know, and quite frankly I don't give a damn – they never bothered to give us any answers when we asked, so I could care less about what they know or don't know." Buttercup shot back with a snort.

"Anyways, apparently at some point, Mojo became infatuated with her, and married her not long after mum and dad got married I guess. Mum said that she changed after she married him – said something similar to the effect that he wasn't the best spouse? But regardless, she said that her entire personality and demeanor changed when she got pregnant – said she was scared and nervous, and that was apparently one of the last time she actually saw Sedusa."

"That would make sense, adding onto what we've heard about her." Bubbles added. "Everyone was saying she locked herself away, and that would explain why we never remember seeing her."

"Something scared her." Blossom muttered finally. "Something changed from the time when she married Mojo to the time when she became pregnant with the boys that ultimately made her leave town. Just watch was it?"

"I don't know, mum didn't know, and no one in town is close enough to the family to know what happened. The only one who would know for sure is Mojo, and I highly doubt that he would just willing give up that information."

"Obviously." Blossom muttered as she gazed out the window. "Aside from what you've found out about Sedusa – did Mrs. Michelson give you any answers about what she thinks happened to Mitch on the night of the attack?"

Buttercup was silent for a moment as she tried to collect her thoughts. "Yes." She finally got out. "But I still don't know what to think. She told me that apparently right before he was attacked _Boomer_ of all people payed him a visit."

Bubbles visibly paled at the mention of the blonde man's name. "B-Boomer? You said she saw Boomer come to visit him? Are you sure?"

"Positive. She said it was definitely him. She said she didn't know what they talked about, but if I had to guess, I'd say that it was something to do with the wolves, because after that Mitch went to that old asylum and… well, we know the rest." Buttercup looked away. "This just keeps getting more and more confusing as we go along. I don't know what to make of the whole situation."

"I thought you said that you believed that they had something to do with his attack?" Bubbles challenged. "I do – I just don't know if that actually _did_ it." Buttercup countered. "Obviously it was the wolves that mauled him, but it was the boys who last talked to him before the attack… something just isn't adding up. It would be nice to know what they told him, but again, the chances of finding that out are slim to none."

"Is there a reason in particular why she thinks it was them?" Blossom asked as she redirected her attention back to her sister. "It all ties into the family supposedly being cursed. She says that being near them, or even talking about them is grounds for trouble."

"Wait girls, I just had a thought." Bubbles piped up. "Sorry for steering us slightly off course here, but Buttercup you said that Butch said that we all met for the first time when we were about four, didn't you?"

"I think so, why?"

"Well, it sounds like mama and Sedusa got pregnant around the same time. If that's the case, then how come we didn't officially meet until we were four years old?"

Both Blossom and Buttercup fell silent as they pondered the point that Bubbles had brought up. "I… don't know." Blossom finally admitted after a moment. "Does anyone even remember how we met?"

"No. Butch sounded like he was going to tell me that particular story when we went on that little date with them into town, but we were interrupted before he got the chance." Buttercup scowled. "Don't ask me how he and his dimwit brothers remember all of this when we can't. Maybe they really do have better memories then us."

"It was a long time ago." Blossom pointed out gently. "We were only five when we left, and mama and papa haven't told us much about Townsville since, so it's not really our faults that we can't remember much about our lives here."

"Yeah, with all of the shit that's happened since we've come back, I understand why they didn't want to tell us." Buttercup snorted bitterly, causing Blossom to mutter a soft _language,_ under her breath.

"Do you think that mama or papa remembers how we met?" Bubbles asked suddenly. "I'd assume so, but for some reason, I get the impression that papa wants us to stay clear of the subject." Blossom replied sullenly. "He never wants to talk about them with us."

"And isn't that strange: it seems like no one does." Buttercup pointed out, "They know something, something that they aren't telling us, or don't want us to find out. The question is: what is it?"

"Again, I don't know." Blossom sighed tiredly. "For once I'd like to get a full answer to something. It seems like every time someone gives us even the slightest piece of information to answer one of our questions, three more pop up in its place!"

"This whole place is just a tangled web of secrets." Bubbles mused softly. "This is the most elaborate puzzle I've ever come across."

"Exactly. And it is for that reason that I have decided that I'm going to the Jojo's next full moon and see what I can find out there." Buttercup growled, glancing out the window and into the snow-covered forest beyond.

"Buttercup no… that is single-handedly the worst idea you've ever had." Blossom groaned as she slapped her head into her hand. "You seemed alright with it when I first brought it up." The onyx haired girl pointed out.

"I didn't think you were actually serious!" Blossom cried! "You'll get yourself killed – not to mention their land is privet property! You'll get caught for trespassing, and then how do you expect to explain what you're doing there to mama and papa?"

"Simple, I'm not going to get caught." Buttercup scoffed. "I'll be going in the dead of night. Strange things are happening in and around that family, and Mitch was attacked not too far away from where they live. All I want to do is just look around." She added as she saw Blossom open her mouth. "If I see any danger, I'll run. I just want to see if there's anything suspicious on their property… see if I can find any answers."

"But why go on the night of the full moon?" Blossom groaned. "Those things will be out there – look what they did to Bubbles and I!" she snarled as she pulled Bubbles sleeve up, exposing the freshly healed bite marks on her bicep. "What if you run into them… again? We all got lucky the last time we saw them, they'll kill you if you see them again!"

"It's _because_ they're going to be out, is why I'm going." Buttercup hummed. "No one in their right mind is going to be out that night, and that means I won't be seen."

"But how do you expect to get all the way out to their estate?" Bubbles finally asked. "They're on the other side of town. How do you expect to make it out there?"

"If you haven't noticed little sister, we have a stable on the property with a few horses at our disposal."

"and how exactly are you going to take off with one of the horses without our parents finding out?" Blossom sighed, dreading the answer she was going to receive – yet already knowing what her middle sister was going to say.

"… I'll need you and Bubbles to cover for me again… sorry girls." Buttercup muttered apologetically, before sending them a weak grin. "But hey, it worked the last time, they didn't find out."

"Yes, a miracle in itself." Bubbles muttered sullenly. "I still can't believe we got away with it."

"Neither can I." Blossom hummed. She glared at her green-eyed sister. "I don't like this idea Buttercup. I don't like the idea of you putting yourself in danger looking for some answers." Buttercup let out a small sigh as she pushed herself off of the dresser, and made her way over to her bed where her sisters were sitting, before taking one of their hands in each of her own.

"I'm sorry." She murmured quietly as she cast her eyes downward. "Really, I am. I don't like putting you both on the spot like this, but if no one is going to be honest and tell us what we need to know, then we need to find the answers for ourselves – and after what happened to you two, I'm not going to be selfish enough to ask you to put yourselves in danger. Never again." she shook her head. "All I ask is that you don't let mum and dad find out what I'm doing. I'll be careful, I promise, I'm not looking for a fight."

Blossom shook her head and pulled her hand out of Buttercup's grasp. "You're insane you know that? How do you possibly expect this to go well?"

"I don't." Buttercup admitted honestly. "I'm not expecting anything anymore. But this is the only way we're going to get any of this sorted out. You're the smartest out of us Blossom, I know you can see that."

The eldest Utonium sister was silent as she tried to think of an answer, before slowly making her way over to one of the large windows on the opposite wall. "When is it going to end?" she asked softly. "The lies, the secrets. When is it going to end?"

Both Bubbles and Buttercup made their way over to stand on either side of the beautiful red-head Finally, in the end, it was Bubbles that spoke.

"I don't know Bloss. I really don't know."

* * *

 **Morebucks Properties, night of the full moon**

The night of the dreaded full moon had arrived once again. The sky was overcast with dark clouds hanging in the sky, obscuring the full moon and blanketing the town in absolute darkens.

At the far end of the small town, lay a recently updated manor with a single window lit up – symbolizing that someone was up – waiting to see what horrors the night brought.

Kingston Morebucks stood in his office window with a glass of red wine in his hand, looking out at the dark lands surrounding his vacation home. The fire in his office crackling away in the fireplace, casting long shadows in the office, and filling the room with a strange red glow.

It was late. He couldn't see the moon, but he knew that the pale, lumesent orb was starting to rise into the dark heavens above. His daughter was already in bed or preening herself, he didn't know which, but he couldn't bring himself to care – he was too busy lost in his own thoughts to care much about anything else.

He swirled his glass of red wine in his hand as he stood in front of the large office window, before raising the glass to his lips, taking a long swig from the glass, before tracing the rim lazily with his finger.

"I wonder if you beasties are out there tonight…" he hummed softly. "Causing mischief, or hunting down some poor fellow… it matters not. I need to see you for myself. I want to see what exactly it is you're capable of."

He tipped his head back and finished off the glass of wine, before setting down the cup on a nearby table and returning to his spot in front of the window, with a slightly crazed grin on his face.

"You can run for now you little monsters, but soon, very soon, you will be mine."

* * *

 **Bellum Manor, night of the full moon**

The tension in the manors air was thick one could slice through it with a knife. The moon wasn't visible through the thick clouds that covered the night sky above, but everyone knew it was out there – hanging low in the sky, signaling that the night was only just beginning.

"Really sir, I don't understand why it is you're having me lock all the windows and bar the doors with bookcases? Locking the windows, I understand – I do that at night anyways, but pushing chairs and such in front of the door? I think that's a little much." The older woman huffed as she helped the scientist push

"Trust me my dear Nanny – it's well worth it." John puffed as he shoved the living room's heavy wooden bookcase in front of the double doors that lead out into the back garden. "You haven't seen the things I've seen."

"Is this got something to do with what happened that night at the gypsy camp?" the stout woman asked. "It's got everything to do with what happened that night." John replied. "I saw something… somethings that night that I never thought I'd see in my life, and I've seen what they're capable of doing, and believe me when I say: you do not what to find out for yourself."

"So you're trying to keep us in, is that it then?" the older woman asked as she shoved the bookcase into place.

"It's not about keeping us in – it's more like what I'm trying to keep _out_." John clarified as he wiped his hands off on his pants. "Trust me my dear – you don't want to see those things."

"What is it exactly we're trying to keep out?" Nanny asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "Really, I come back after visiting family members, and the whole town's gone to hell in a handbasket. I was promised I would be told about what happened the night my dear mayor was…" she faltered for a moment. "… killed. What exactly is going on here?"

"Nan, if you trust me, then please believe me when I say that all will be revealed very soon. My plan is to tell all of the town the full story after this full moon with the help of Kingston-"

"Kingston… you mean Kingston Morebucks?" the older woman wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Never liked the sounds of him – seedy fellow if anything. What's he got to do with it?"

"Please Nan, that's my boss." John sighed as he rubbed his temples. "I'll require his assistance in informing the town of my findings about what I've discovered the past few months. I was originally going to have Mitch help me break the news to the town, but considering how he's not going to be getting up anytime soon, I'll need the help of as many influencal people as I possibly can, for my findings to have weight."

"You must have come across something pretty unbelievable, if you feel the need to include the likes of him in your investigation." Nanny mused lightly, as she eyed the displaced furniture scattered about the mansion. "You don't even know the half of it." John muttered. "If I can ask you to help Sara and I keep an eye on her mother tonight, that would be greatly appreciated. I don't want her wandering off tonight… her mind is not what it should be."

"Yes, yes of course." Nanny agreed. "My poor Mrs. – she never recovered after what happened to the dear mayor… she's so detached from reality now, and it's only stressing my dear Sara out farther… John honey I'm telling you, if she doesn't improve soon, we should seriously consider taking her to an institution-"

"No. Not that, anything but that." John muttered softly. "I've visited far too many of them in Citysville – I know what they do to their patients, and she wouldn't survive in there. Not to mention it would destroy Sara and the girls, and I couldn't do that to them."

Nanny opened her mouth but then shut it again. "I understand sir. I'm just worried about her is all. It's not normal for a person to act like she is."

"I know. But she's safe here. It's easy to look after her while she's at the house." John sighed. "If she doesn't show signs of recovery soon I'll consider taking her to get an assessment with Sara and-"

"Papa? We're not going to send Grandma away, are we?"

John and Nanny both looked up with a start, only to see Bubbles standing in the doorway along with Blossom, looking slightly panicked.

"Oh, Bubbles hun, no. No, we're not, I was just discussing the possibility of having a specialist look at her." John assured his youngest daughter. "Your Gran isn't well as you can see, and it's starting to worry all of us, that's all."

"Yes… it is troubling." Blossom finally murmured as she cast a look over her shoulder, into the dark hallway beyond, before looking back at her father. John paused and looked behind them. "Where's Buttercup?"

"Oh, she wasn't feeling very well, and she went to go lie down last time I checked." Bubbles responded smoothly. "I think she might be sleeping actually – It was pretty quiet in her room when I passed it."

"Ah, poor girl, she hasn't been herself since we came back here." John sighed. "Well, as long as she rests up, she should be just fine. Perhaps I should go look in on her-"

"NO!"

John jumped at the tone his eldest daughter had adapted, and Blossom froze as she tried to backpedal from her sudden outburst.

"I-I mean… No, don't worry papa it's not necessary. She's probably asleep now, and you know how she is about people coming into her room unannounced and disturbing her when she's sleeping." Blossom quickly corrected herself in a rush of breath, causing her father to look at her with slightly narrowed eyes, as he tried to figure out the sudden change in his daughter's behavior. Finally, he relented.

"Yes, you're quite right. She does hate to be woken up from her slumbers. I swear that girl sleeps so much, but however…" he sighed, "I'll see her tomorrow morning, I'll ask how she's doing then, I suppose."

"We're probably going to head off to bed soon ourselves." Bubbles sighed as she too, cast a quick look over her shoulder. John nodded." "A wise idea. I don't think I have to tell you girls that going out tonight is strictly forbidden, because you-know-what is out there."

"Not like we could leave anyways – you have the whole manor sealed shut." Bubbles pointed out, gesturing to the barricaded doors and windows. "You can never be too safe my dear." John responded before moving forwards and planting a kiss on both girl's foreheads. "Now off to bed the both of you – sweet dreams, and I'll talk to you tomorrow morning."

"Sweet dreams darlings." Nanny cooed at them with a kind smile. "Your father and I are going to finish up here and then we'll be right behind you."

"Goodnight Nanny." Both girls responded in unison as they backed out of the living room, and made their way down the dark hallway towards the kitchen and dining room. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Bubbles leaned into Blossom. "Did she make it out?"

A cool breeze coming from the dining room answered her question. Both girls turned and entered the dining room, only to see that one of the large windows was slightly ajar – ruffling the heavy drapes around it. A set of light footprints in the snow leading around to the back of the house and towards the small barn on the property was the only indicator that someone had been there at all.

"Yes, she did, and Judging from Nanny and papa's reactions, they didn't see her slip past." Blossom breathed as she shut the window, but didn't lock it.

"She'll probably be coming back much later." Blossom explained, catching Bubbles's quizzical look. "She'll want a way back in that doesn't require any assistance from us. With any luck – no one will even know that she's gone aside from you and me."

"I can't believe we're actually letting her do this." Bubbles muttered darkly. "What if she actually does run into those things out there? What if they really do kill her this time?"

"I know… at least she'll have a horse… hopefully it can outrun them." Blossom sighed. "But she does have a point: we need answers, and as much as I hate this idea – it might just give us the answers we need."

The stunning ginger pressed one hand against the foggy glass. "I only pray that she comes back unharmed-"

A large, dark outline of something suddenly bolted past the window, startling both sisters. It took them a fraction of a second to realize it was Buttercup flying past them on one of the few horses in the barn – her cloak billowing out in the breeze behind her as she tore out of the gated property and towards the dark town below.

"…and there she goes…" Bubbles sighed as she pressed her face up against the glass. "Please be safe…" Blossom put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and offered the blonde girl a strained smile. "We'll keep a look out for her." She promised gently. "For now, let's go back upstairs and make sure no one tries to enter her room… lord only knows the panic that will occur if anyone discovers that she's missing."

* * *

 **Outer Jojo Estate**

Buttercup slowed her horse down from a trot to a slow walk as she approached the outskirts of the Jojo property.

She had come in through the back roads of Townsville, deciding that heading up the main way to the mansion like she and her sisters normally did wouldn't be wise considering the circumstances, and that the rolling hills that surrounded the mansion would offer her little to no concealment on her way up there. However, she knew that the end of the Jojo's land backed onto the forest that surrounded the village, and was accessible via old, almost forgotten trails running along the outskirts of the town, and would provide her with more places to hide should she need to.

She pulled on the reins, bringing her horse to a stop, before she slid off of its back and lead it over to a tree that was hidden behind some thick shrubbery. "Can't have you running off." She muttered as she tied the reins to a low-hanging branch and gave its neck a pat. "You stay here, I'll walk the rest of the way – you'll attract too much attention."

The raven-haired girl pulled her hood up, concealing her face. "I shouldn't be long." She murmured, half to her horse, half to herself. "I'm just going to look around and see if I can see anything out of the ordinary, then I'll be back."

She tuned towards the tree-line and sucked in a breath, trying to calm her nerves. "Okay." She murmured softly. "You've come this far Buttercup, you can do this. You need to know what exactly it is that they're hiding."

 _If not for you, then do it for Mitch and your sisters._

With that thought fresh in her mind, she set her jaw and began to push her way through the dense undergrowth that led onto the Jojo's property – trying to make as little sound as possible.

She pushed her way through the underbrush until she made it to the other side of the brush and into a clearing on the Jojo's estate. She glanced around, making sure that she was not detected, before cautiously venturing farther out onto the property. She glanced around the almost desolate area, looking for anything suspicious, or worse, the beasts themselves, but she was disappointed – yet slightly relived, to see that nothing was out of the ordinary.

The ink haired woman walked along the tree-line as she tried to determine where she was on the property. Turning to her right, she could see the back of the massive mansion looming at her several yards away on the dark horizon, and the well-kept stables and padlocks that housed the horses a few yards before that.

She furrowed her brows as she spun in a small circle so that she was facing towards her left. On the north-east side of the property, she saw the sprawling, dead gardens, and the overgrown maze she remembered playing in as a child with Butch, along with several carved stone statures, covered in snow. Turning all the way to her left, she froze as something caught her attention.

There, just on the border-line of the forest, was a large, stone building, covered in snow, looking as if no one had been in in for several years, with two large stone wolves – similar to the ones outside of the house's main pathway – sitting on either side of the old wooden door leading into the building – almost as if they were guarding the entrance.

"What is that?" she asked herself quietly as she slowly inched towards the desolate looking building. "I don't remember seeing this place before…" shuffling towards the building, she brushed off some of the snow that had accumulated on the stone wolf closest to her, only to see that it had something inscribed on its chest.

 _Jojo Family Crypt_

"Oh Christ, it's a tomb." Buttercup breathed as she stepped back, suddenly feeling deeply uncomfortable. "This must be where they keep all of their deceased family members-"

Her voice cut off and died in her throat, as the sound of voices carrying over the wind caused her heart to stop in her chest.

"Fuck Brick… I can't hold back for much longer… can't this damn thing just hurry up? I feel like I'm dying."

"Soon Boomer… soon… the moon will make an appearance anytime now, and then the night will be over before you even know it."

"Well can it hurry up and come out already? I feel like I'm going to vomit up my intestines and claw off my skin if I don't get a release soon."

 _It was Brick, Butch and Boomer – and they were heading straight towards her._

"Oh god." Buttercup croaked, feeling as if she was about to vomit. Thinking fast, she quickly ducked behind one of the massive stone wolves, praying that the triplet boys hadn't seen her. Not a moment later, all three boys appeared into view, trudging through the snow, looking sicker then she had ever seen them before. Buttercup didn't dare to breathe as she heard the boys come to a stop outside the old wooden door leading into the crypt. She heard them fumble with the lock momentarily before a loud creak shatter the otherwise still air, letting her know that they had gotten the door open.

Buttercup remained motionless as she heard them step into the crypt. "Alright… you both know the drill." She heard Brick sigh, "We just have to make it through the night. Just like old times."

"Yeah, when we were young and out of control." Butch snapped back, his voice taking on a slight echo as he stepped into the tomb. "We're not like that anymore… we've ascended to something greater. We're not mindless like we once were anymore."

"Yes, but dad doesn't know that yet, and I don't plan on telling him anytime soon. He can figure it out with the rest of the town when the time comes." She headed Brick snap back, causing her to frown in confusion – not understanding their conversation in the slightest. The lime-eyed girl heard another set of footsteps enter the chamber, quickly determining them to be Brick's as she heard his deep voice echo off the walls. "Let's just get this over with… come on Boomer."

She heard the blonde sigh miserably, as his footsteps crunched towards the door. "Yeah, I know, I'm coming… It's just… you know how I feel about this-" Buttercup let a small sigh of relief escape her as she heard him about to step into the tomb after his brothers, only for the footsteps to stop suddenly at the sound.

Boomer paused and looked around the area. Although Buttercup couldn't see him, she could hear him moving around and taking in several deep breaths, almost as if he was tasting the air.

"Did you guys hear that?" the blonde man asked as he glanced around at his immediate surroundings. "I didn't hear shit, why?" Butch's low growling tone echoed from inside the tomb, causing her to slap her hand over her mouth to muffle her panicked breathing – silently praying to every god that she knew that the lanky blonde wouldn't look around the corner.

"I thought I heard something." Boomer groaned back as he rubbed furiously at his temples. "Your senses are out of wack right now." Brick's voice echoed from farther down in the cavern. "All of ours are. It's probably nothing." A pained groan warbled up from the tomb, followed by a sharp cracking sound, that made Buttercup feel sick to her stomach.

"Just hurry the hell up and get down here… we don't have much time left… I can feel it approaching."

Boomer sighed as he looked up into the dark, moonless sky above him as a shudder ran though him, stoking his very bones. "Yes… It won't be long now." He muttered, half to himself, half to his brothers. He redirected his attention back into the burial chambers and Buttercup swore she heard a slight whimper in his voice as he muttered. "I don't want to go back in there."

"None of us do, but it's the only place we can go." Butch's voice rumbled from within the chamber. "Now let's go." Boomer took one last look around the area before shaking his head and stepped into the tomb after his brothers, slamming the door behind him, and leaving Buttercup alone outside with her thoughts. The ravenette dared not move from her spot behind the stone wolf until she was sure that neither of the boys were coming back out, before stepping out from behind her hiding spot – completely bewildered from what she had just listened to.

 _What the hell were they talking about? They weren't making any sense_. Buttercup thought as she crept out of her hiding spot. _What was so special about the moon to them? And why did they look so sickly looking?_

Something told her that she was going to find out soon enough, but she wasn't sure if she was going to like the answer.

She crept towards the door and soundlessly pushed it open, revealing a large dark, circular room, acting as a mausoleum. She looked around the room wearily, trying to see if she could spot where the boys had gone, but thankfully, she didn't hear them anywhere nearby. She slowly inched her way into the room and shut the door behind her with a small _click_ , before walking farther into the room.

The stunning ravenette rubbed her arms as a sudden chill washed over the silent room. She quickly glanced at the inscriptions written on the doors lining the walls, but she couldn't recognize the names of any of the people that were buried there. She felt along the wall until she came to an archway on the other side of the room. Peering into the dark abys she slowly made her way down the hall until she reached another room.

This room was slightly different from the other one. Instead of a mausoleum set-up, the room had two large, marble caskets placed directly in the center of the room, luminated by a single torch hanging off the wall on the far side of the room – looking as if it had recently been lit.

"They must have come this way." Buttercup muttered lowly as she made her way over to the casket. "I must be getting close-" She paused and looked down at the top of the caskets intently. Brushing off a layer of dust, she squinted and looked down at the faint lettering that was etched into the old marble of both coffins.

 _Lord Jomo Momo and Lady Yoko Jojo. Beloved mother and father to Mojo Jojo. Proud monarchs of the Jojo family. Your tutelage will be missed._

"These must be Mojo's parents." Buttercup muttered as she straightened back up. "they must be the ones that Nana mentioned when I went to see her-"

Some shuffling noses from farther up ahead caught her attention, and a slight light from a hallway that she hadn't noticed before filled the room with a little more light. "They must be up that way." Buttercup mused to herself as she walked around the coffins and towards the hallway, making sure to step lightly, in case the boy where right ahead of her.

She pressed herself against the wall, and peered around the corner, only to find the room empty, but the torches that lined the walls looked as if they had just been lit moments ago. Unlike the other two rooms before, this one was much smaller and looked more like a storage room then a burial one. Buttercup looked around the empty room in bewilderment.

"Where the hell did you go?" Buttercup muttered as she crept into the room. "All three of you were just here, I know it… there's no way you could just disappear that quickly-"

 _Scratch, scratch._

Buttercup tucked her jet-black hair behind her ears and listened for the light scratching sound. She pressed her ear to the wall closest to her, only to hear sounds echoing from behind the wall. "It's hallow." She whispered excitedly as she began to feel around the wall, looking for a loose stone or a release mechinzem of some kind. She was aware that her Grandparents manor had several hidden rooms within the walls that were accessible by pulling on a false book or hidden chain, so she assumed that it was roughly the same idea.

She felt around the wall for a few more minutes, before her hand hit a loose stone. She grinned to herself as she pushed the stone inward, feeling it sink into the wall and an audible _click_ was heard. She stood back as the wall shifted back slightly, and slowly moved to one side, revealing a dank, musty staircase, leading down into what she could only assume was the basement, lit by a single torch on the wall, and a tiny cell window, looking up into the dark night sky above.

Buttercup took a few hesitant steps down the damp staircase until she was only a few steps from the bottom, only to gag at the smell that rose up from the tightly enclosed space. It smelled like human misery, and the stuffy air felt heavy in her lungs, making her feel as if she was suffocating. Why the Jojo's had such a place in their family crypt of all places, she wasn't sure, but she couldn't deny the overwhelming feeling of dread that suddenly washed over her. She was so caught up in her thoughts, that she almost missed the voices that were floating towards her a few feet away.

"…. What the hell was that?"

"It sounded like the wall… is it dad? Did someone follow us?"

"I don't know. I thought he would be asleep right about now, go see what he wants, and hurry- we don't have much time left."

Buttercup froze again. It was the boys. She was suddenly all too aware that she had no plan for what to do if she ran into them. She didn't have time to turn back around and fell up the stairs, before the sound of rapid footsteps approached her. Before she could even blink, she found herself staring in to a set of familiar, forest green eyes.

It was Butch, barely standing a foot away from her – looking almost as startled to see her as she was him.

"B-Buttercup? What the hell are you doing here?"

His voice snapped her out of her trance and she forced herself to stay calm as she looked at the clearly panicked man.

"I-I followed you. How else do you think I got here?"

"Motherfucker- no, I mean, what the hell are youdoing _here._ " Butch snarled as he pointed downwards toward the ground, trying to emphasize his point.

"I came here looking for answers." Buttercup snapped back, suddenly feeling oddly defensive despite her situation. Her repressed rage about the tragedy that had befallen her family and best friend fueling her forward. "No one in this damn place will tell my sisters and I anything about those damn wolves, or what really happened to Mitch! It made no sense for him to be out at the asylum, miles from town, all alone with no one else to help him! He's smarter than that!" her blazing lime eyes narrowed to slits as she stepped closer to the sweating man, and poked him directly in the chest with a slim finger.

"And I _know_ you and your brothers had something to do with it – He wouldn't have gone out there on his own unless he was lured away, and you three were the ones that talked to him last. Don't try and tell me otherwise."

"You shouldn't be here." Butch moaned, ignoring her accusations as he shook his head. "Why did you come here? On tonight of all nights? Why couldn't you just listen to me for once and stay away-"

"Butch, what the hell are you doing? Get your ass in here _now._ I have to lock the door now while I can still think properly."

Buttercup glanced over Butch's broad shoulder, only for her eyes to widen in shock. Behind Butch, at the end of the hallway was another room that was lit by a few candles. The room had a thick metal door with a barred slot near the top that was half-open. Inside the room, Buttercup could see that the stone walls were stained with a reddish-brown substance, and had deep gouges carved into the stone – as if something deadly sharp had been raked down them countless times. Finally, she could see that attached to the walls were short, heavy chains that had what looked to be thick shackles attached to them.

And there, standing in the doorway, was none other than Brick Jojo, looking very, very wrong.

Buttercup's eyes widened and she couldn't help but let her jaw fall slack as she took in the nightmarish scene before her. "What it hell is all of this…?"

Brick stiffened at the sound of her voice, and Buttercup watched as turned his head ever so slowly in her direction. His blood red eyes widened in shock as they landed on Buttercup. "WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING HERE?"

Boomer's face suddenly peered out from around the coroner of the room behind Brick, looking just as mortified as his brothers upon noticing her. "HOW DID SHE FIND US?" he yelped, as he backed away father into the room- no, the _cell,_ Buttercup realized with a start.

"W-what the hell is this?" she managed to force out again, pointing at the room in shock. "What the hell is this place, answer me!"

"I can explain!" Butch tried to sooth her desperately as he moved towards her with his hands up in front of him placatingly, only for Buttercup to back up in terror. "No, stay away from me!" Butch's face fell, only for his expression to harden again and move towards her. "You need to get out of here, while you still have time. I don't know what I'm going to do if you're so close by-"

"Butch, please, just tell me: what is going on here-"

"What do you think."

Buttercup stared up at the green-eyed man before her with wide eyes. _Eyes… rare forest green eyes. Those eyes were so familiar… like she had seen them before on someone or something that wasn't him-_

 _CRAAAACK._

A sickening crunching sound emanating from the room Brick and Boomer were holed up in snapped her back to the present with a start. She peered behind Butch, only to see a pale-faced Boomer holding one of his legs as his face contorted in what she could only describe as agony.

"What's happening to him." She murmured soundlessly – not daring to take her eyes off the gruesome scene in front of her. It wasn't a question however, not really. Her numb mind already knew the answer. The pieces of the twisted puzzle that she was so desperate to solve were finally starting to come together, and now that they were, she desperately wished that they wouldn't.

Butch stepped to the side, trying to block her vision, but the image of the youngest Jojo's leg snapped out of alignment was already seared into her brain. She peered up into the broader man's eyes and trembled at the intense stare he was giving her. His dark green eyes looked like they were glowing in the dimly lit dungeon – almost like they were lit up from the inside of his skull, giving him an otherworldly look.

 _But he_ was _otherworldly_. Buttercup thought to herself in a blind panic. _Both he and his brothers. They weren't from this world at all._

"You." She whispered as she took a step backwards. Butch winced and took a tentative step after her. "Butters, please, I can explain everything, but right now you to remain calm and let me-"

" **RRRRRAAAAAAAAOOOORRRRRRRWWWRRR"**

The shriek of pain from behind her made the dark-hard girl almost jump out of her skin as she saw Brick's back arch and contort violently from her spot in front of Butch – almost as if the auburn haired man's spine was getting pulled in the opposite direction of his body by some unseen force. The red eyed man sunk to the dirty floor, breathing heavily, only for his head to spin in her direction a second later. It took everything Buttercup had in her not to pass out, as the eldest Jojo's piercing crimson red eyes landed on her prone form. She had never seen such wild rage and bloodlust in a person's eyes before, and it shook her to her very core.

Still snarling, Brick heaved himself off the floor and strode towards the still open door. It didn't go unnoticed by Butch, who quickly fallowed her petrified stare behind him, only to mutter a curse under his breath, before he flung himself at the door – slamming it shut just before Brick could exit – prompting his older brother to let out a bellow of rage as he threw himself against the metal door – his arms flailing wildly from the barred slot at the top of the door.

"Brick stop!" Butch roared as he locked the door from the outside, leaving his brothers trapped in the cell.

"NO! SHE'LL RIUN EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE WORKED SO HARD TO ACHIVE, IT'LL ALL BE FOR NOTHING! WE HAVE TO STOP HER!"

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? LOCK HER IN HERE WITH US? SHE WON'T MAKE IT! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THIS, BUT YOU NEED TO STOP!"

 _I have to get out of here._ Buttercup thought numbly to herself as she watched the brothers yell at each other. She glanced at the stairs behind her, then looked back at Butch who was still preoccupied trying to settle Brick. It was then she made up her mind.

"Screw it." the ravenette muttered as she turned and sprinted up the stairs – leaving the dungeon behind her as she raced through the desolate crypt at a blinding speed, and burst out of the doors and into the frigid winter air – not caring where she was running to, as long as it was far away from the nightmare scene behind her.

Butch's head snapped around to glance at the spot that Buttercup had once been in, only to find that said girl had vanished. "Goddamn it." the green-eyed man snarled viscously as he pulled himself away from the door, with the intent on finding her, only to stop in his tracks as Brick began to yell at him from behind the closed door.

"BUTCH, BUTCH COME BACK. YOU'D BETTER NOT LEAVE THIS CRYPT! DON'T YOU DARE TAKE ANOTHER FUCKING STEP- **UUURRHHHHHGGG-** "

Brick's furious roar divulged into an unhuman growl as he fell back from the slot in the door, convulsing madly on the ground.

Butch looked back at his rapidly changing brothers, before looking back up the stairs where Buttercup had fled. "I'll come back, I promise, I just have to grab her. Stay there."

"Not like we can go anywhere to begin with." Boomer hissed as he watched the bones in his hand ripple and elongate. He shot his middle brother a hooded look as his nose and jaws began to push themselves out of his face. **"Hurry and bring her back."** He growled in a voice that was not quite his own. **"She's going to get herself killed."**

The brute of a man nodded as he turned and began to sprint up the basement steps, "Right, hang tight Boom, I'll be back soon. You and Brick try not to kill each other while I'm gone."

" **Butch."** The inhuman snarl would have made a lesser man soil themselves in sheer terror, but he was used to it. the dark-haired man turned halfway on the steps so that he was facing the hellhole of a room that served as his and his brothers prison for years. He watched as his baby brother's face disappeared and was replaced by the familiar face of the wolf that lay dormant within him.

" **Don't lose control."** And with that, the beast let out a deranged howl and ripped itself away from the bars, only for another howl to join in, symbolizing that Brick had also transformed. Butch flinched as he booked it up the stairs, taking two at a time. _If both of his brothers had transformed, it meant that he wasn't far behind-_

"SHIT!" Butch gasped as he pitched forward on the stairs – catching himself just in time to avoid eating the grimy stone.

"Oh god no." Butch croaked as he watched the bones in his legs crack out of alignment, and start to grow rapidly. He looked up at the tiny window at the top of the basement, just as the full moon peaked out from behind the overcast sky – taunting him.

" **Not here… not now."**

And his vison cut to black.

* * *

 **Gypsy Campgrounds**

Berserk's eyes snapped open with a gasp as she jolted up from her spot on her futon, dragging a groggy Brat up with her.

"What, what?" The blonde asked frantically as she looked around their shared tent wildly. "What's going on?"

The red-eyed woman rubbed her arms and tried to control her shaking. She had been woken from her sleep by an overwhelming feeling of terror that was not her own. She quickly counted the days in her head. _Full moon tonight. Her darling "cousins" would be undergoing their little change tonight as they always did._

She frowned as she ran a hand though her fire-red hair. Something was off about them, she could sense it. Ever since their last transformation, their energies hadn't been the same. They had become darker, harder to trace… more ominous… otherworldly even.

Then again, they had never been very worldly to begin with either…

"Do you feel that?"

Both sisters looked towards the front of the tent where Brute stood with the flap open, peering up into the moonlit sky. Berserk slowly made her way over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and slowly turn her around, only to see that her normally dark kelly green eyes were glassy and clouded – a clear sign that she was having a vision.

Berserk gently placed her hands on either side of her pale face as she tried to bring her younger sister back to reality. It was times like this that she was grateful that all three of them were blessed with the rare abilities of a seer – even if her and Brat's visions were not as clear as Brute's were – It allowed them to feel things that were happening in faraway places – but on the other hand, visions like the ones her sister was currently experiencing sometimes scared her half to death.

And they had always seemed to be very in-tune with their relatives up at the Jojo estate, for as long as any of them could remember.

"What do you see Brute?" she murmured, coxing her back. "What are they doing tonight? Are they locked away as they should be?"

"They are… but they are not." The ink-haired woman muttered. "Somethings wrong, I can feel it. There is a… disturbance there… someone who shouldn't be there is there... I can feel her presence…"

Berserk frowned. "She?" she asked, as she gripped her ink covered sister tighter. "Who's there Brute?"

"It's the girl."

Berserk whirled around to face Brat, who had adopted a blank expression on her face. "I see bright green eyes and black, black hair… she reminds me of Brute… without the tattoos… she's the one that our dear cousin lusts after so desperately."

Berserk froze. A girl with black hair and light green eyes… that was a rare combo around these parts… didn't that professor have a daughter with the same description?

"I don't know who exactly she is." Brat muttered before she could ask. "But she seems very familiar… I don't know why she's there, but she couldn't have picked a worse time to go exploring there… she's railed all three of them up… they're in a panic…"

The blond shook her head, snapping herself out of her trance abruptly. "Ah, god I hate when that happens… I don't know how Brute does it so often… I hate the feeling so much."

"Says the one who rarely experiences the visions." Brute rasped, causing Berserk to redirect her attention back to her middle sister. The dark-haired girl blinked several times, ridding herself of the foggy look in her eyes. Her dark green eyes focused on her older sister, and noticed that she hadn't removed her hands from her face. "You can let go, it's passed for now."

Berserk turned away from both of her sisters as they slowly came out of their trances, and offered a silent prayer to whoever it was that was running from the wolves. As much as she wanted to intervene and help the mystery girl, she was all too aware that she was just as helpless when it came to dealing with the wolves, and that she wouldn't be doing herself or her sisters any favors if she got herself killed trying to help.

"Lord have mercy on your soul little one… You'll need all the luck you can get to escape this one."

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

Buttercup dashed though the snow towards the estate, trying to put as much distance between her and the crypt as she possibly could. The freezing air stung her lungs – feeling like her lungs were getting punctured by a freezing knife with every breath she took – but she didn't dare stop or slow down – too terrified by what she had seen in the cellar to think about anything else but saving herself.

She pumped her arms as she ran, silently thanking the small amount of sports her father allowed her to do in the privacy of their yard back at home that helped kept her in shape. As she neared the looming mansion, she suddenly realized that the inhabitants of the house-hold would be little to no help to her – they had to be in on the boy's frightening secret, or at least their father, Mojo had to know – she wasn't sure if their new servant, Ace knew, but she wasn't about to find out.

She sucked in a harsh breath as she noted that she was running in the opposite direction of the spot where she had left her horse, and knew that she wouldn't have enough time to go back to get him before the boys were on her.

She swallowed painfully as she made the split-second decision to run towards the barn, that was located just a few yards in front of her. She didn't know if all three of them would be chasing after her, but she was certain that at least one of the beasts would try to hunt her down.

And it was more than likely going to be Butch.

She had seen him lock both Brick and Boomer in the make-shift cell, but as far as she knew he hadn't gotten in with them, and she highly doubted that the powerful man was just going to let her escape that easily… not after she had stumbled upon their secret.

" **ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAOOOOOORRRRRWWWWWWWW!"**

Buttercup felt her already frozen blood completely solidify in her veins as the ear-splitting roar cut through the air behind her. She didn't dare turn around – a part of her already knowing what she would see, but the other part of her not wanting to have her fears confirmed – and all but flung herself towards the barn's main entrance.

"Oh, please dear god in heaven, don't let this be locked." She chanted under her breath, as her frozen fingers fumbled with the latches on the double door – all the while listening to the sound of heavy breathing and foot-falls racing towards her from the direction of the crypt.

"God damn it, come on!" she shrieked as she finally managed to undo the last bolt latch on the door, causing one of the doors to swing open just enough for her to fit inside. She sent a quick prayer to whatever god was watching over her as she shoved herself through the small opening and slammed the door shut just in time, as something massive crashed into them with a bellow of rage.

The creature began clawing at the thick wooden door, with the intent of forcing it open. "NO!" Buttercup roared back, holding the door closed as she searched for the bolts to secure the door shut from the inside. "I AM NOT GOING TO DIE LIKE THIS!" She yelled back at it as she finally located the heavy bolt across the door. She briefly let go of the door to force it into place – allowing her a quick look of the creature that awaited her on the other side of the door.

She felt all the colour drain from her face as she got a glimpse of a hulking creature, with fur as black as midnight, and glowing green eyes peer at her from outside the barn.

 _Oh god… oh dear god. It was that… that_ thing. _The same thing that had chased her thought the forest-_

Buttercup let out a scream and slammed the lock into place, causing the beast outside to let out another ear-splitting roar and go back to ripping apart the door. The sound caused all the horses in the barn to startle and start baying loudly in their stalls, kicking their doors and shrieking loudly, causing Buttercup to slap her hands over her ears as she tried to think about how she was going to escape.

She looked around the barn, hoping that it had another exit that she could slip out of undetected, but the only way out that she could see were the doors that she had come in from, and the other set of doors on the far side of the barn, leading out towards the overgrown maze and forest.

The ravenette shook her head. She knew she was fast, but this creature was clearly faster – even if she tried to escape out the far doors, the beast would soon catch on and chase her down, and then god knows what it would do to her then.

The horses loud neighing made her grit her teeth in frustration. _I need them to be quiet for a minute._ She snapped in her head. _If I could just get one moment of peace I could figure out what to do-_

She stopped short as she looked around at the horses. _She_ wasn't fast enough to outrun the monstrous creature outside… but _they_ were.

She hesitated for a second longer – not believing that she was actually going to do what she was about to do – but a particularly hard slam on the doors forced her to make up her mind.

She dashed down the corridor of stalls, passing what she could only assume were Brick and Boomer's mounts, until she found herself at the end of the barn, in front of a large stall with a massive black stallion inside.

 _Ares – Butch's own mount._

The massive Clydesdale mix pinned his ears back and stomped his massive hooves on the ground in aggravation as she ripped open the door to his stall. "Easy, easy boy, shhhh, shhh, you remember me don't you? I've ridden you before- steady, steady…"

The dark horse's ears perked up slightly as she placed her hand on the horse's nose. He nickered softly and nudged her hand gently as she allowed a tiny smile to grace her face at her luck. _He remembered her – that was all that mattered. She had remembered Butch saying that he was a difficult horse that absolutely despised other people, but he had for some reason taken a shine to her – that was good, considering that she needed to get out of the property fast, and the last thing she needed was to deal with a difficult horse._

She felt around the horse's broad face until she latched onto his halter and tugged on it, leading him out of his stall. "There, there, that's it, good boy, we have to get out of here you and I, we're going to go for a little run, that's all…" she shut the stall door, noticing a set of reins hanging on a hook just beside the door. Grabbing them, she quickly clipped them onto Ares halter – deciding to nix using an actual riding bridle set.

She looked around for a saddle, but she didn't see one, and knew that she didn't have any time to look for one. She glanced up wearily at Ares massive back. She had only ridden bare back with her sisters a handful of times before, and with much smaller horses. She wasn't even sure if she would be able to wrap her legs around his back to hold on properly-

 _ **CRUUUNNNCHHH**_

Buttercup barely managed to hold back a scream as the doors at the far end of the barn suddenly splintered down the middle, causing the horses to explode into a fresh round of panicked baying. Ares snorted and stamped his hooves, causing her to hold on to the reigns tighter, holding his head steady, as a massive clawed hand thrust its way through the broken door – tearing at the thick wood as it felt around for the latches keeping it shut.

Not wasting another second, she lept onto Ares back with some difficulty, and wiggled her way up until she was situated in between his shoulders. Gripping the reigns tightly, she squeezed her legs into the horse's powerful sides, as the beast behind her continued for force his way in, howling bloody murder.

Buttercup threw a look over her shoulder at the hell beast as she wrapped the reins around her wrists and hands. _I'm not going to die here. Not like this._ She thought to herself determinedly. She narrowed her eyes at the second set of closed barn doors that were in front of her. She was going straight though those doors, then she was getting the hell out of here.

"YA!" She roared, cracking the reins, just as the doors at the opposite end of the barn suddenly burst open, and the beast flung itself into the barn. Ares reard up and threw himself into a full charge – his powerful body forcing the doors open, and burst out into the cold in a full sprint. The dark horse tore through the dead gardens, past the dreaded crypt, and towards the dark, forbidding forest at the far end of the property.

Buttercup through a glance over her shoulder, only to see that the wolf was sprinting after them on all fours – the other horses in the barn completely forgotten as the wolf from her nightmares bolted after them, letting out ungodly howls of rage as he raced after them – the greens of his eyes locked solely on her.

After all, _she_ was his target. It was her he was after – nothing else mattered.

She squeezed Ares sides tighter as she cracked the reins again, forcing the horse to go faster. If he wanted her so badly, he'd have to get her himself – she wasn't about to go down without a fight.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate – servant chambers**

Ace jolted upright in his bed – started out of his light sleep by horrific sounds of blood-curdling howls that were coming from outside his window.

"Jesus Christ, what in the hell is that?" the lanky man groaned as he made his way over to the window, wiping sleep from his pink tinted eyes as he ripped open the curtains. "I swear to god, if it's a pack of damn coyotes having an orgy in yard, I will shoot every single one of them-"

His voice died in his throat as he witnessed something big and black, running on all fours into the forest the lined the outskirts of the property, beyond the family's crypt – almost as if it was chasing after something.

His eyes narrowed and he pressed his face up against the glass, as he tried to get one last look at the disappearing creature.

"What the hell is that?"

* * *

 **Inner Forest**

"YA!"

Buttercup cracked the reins against Ares neck, spurring him on faster as the black stallion charged wildly through the snow-covered undergrowth, leaving deep hoof-prints behind in the snow.

Her head swiveled from left to right at inhumane speed, trying to see if Butch- no, the _beast_ was following them. She squinted harshly, trying to see if she could see anything moving amongst the tree-line, with the small amount of moon-light that reached the snowy ground though the gaps in the tree-tops, but she couldn't see anything through the gloom.

 _It was him… he was the monster that had been terrorizing the town… and the one that stalked her though the woods that one fateful night._

 _And it wasn't just him either._ Buttercup realized with a jolt as she yanked on the reins harshly, steering Ares deeper into the dark woods. _Brick and Boomer were also werewolves._ The make-shift cellar in the massive tomb that both boys had locked themselves in flashed before her eyes.

 _That must be where they lock themselves up when they aren't going on a rampage._ Buttercup thought wildly, as she frantically turned from side to side, praying that she wouldn't see anything running towards them from the shadows. _But if they have that to keep themselves locked in during the full moon, then why weren't they-_

 _CRACK._

" _Omph!"_ Buttercup gasped as Ares collided into several closely woven together trees and reared up in shock, causing her to lose her grip on the reins and plummet to the ground below. She laid on the ground wheezing as she struggled to catch her breath again, watching Ares thrash in the cluster of trees, only for his reins to get hopelessly tangled in the branches above his head, trapping him farther.

"Oh, no, no no!" the raven-haired girl panicked as she pushed herself off the ground and ran over to the frantic horse. "Easy, easy boy!" she soothed frantically as she jumped for the reins. "Steady Ares, stand still and let me free you-"

" **AAAARRRRROOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!"**

Buttercup felt her blood turn to ice as the blood curdling howl pierced the frosty air, and bounced off the densely packed trees surrounding them. She whirled around, trying to pin-point where the noise was coming from, only to see nothing, making her paranoia even worse.

"Oh god I have to get out of here." She muttered as she jumped for the reins again. "I have to get back home before he kills me… I have to warn somebody. I have to tell people what they really are!"

Just then, the woods were suddenly plunged into total darkness. Buttercup cringed and pulled her cloak closer to her lean form as she tried to listen for anymore howls overtop of the stallion's baying.

 _Silence._

The lime eyed woman clenched her teeth and turned back around to attend to the horse – the sudden stillness surrounding them setting her on edge. _It was quiet… too quiet._ She thought to herself as she made another lunge for the reins. _Now she had no idea where the beast was-_

"Buttercup."

The deep growl that shattered the silence was enough to make the raventte scream and whirl around – only to see Butch standing a few feet away from her and Ares – leaning heavily against a tree, bare chest heaving from the force of his panting, as he struggled to regain his breath.

Buttercup's eyes widened impossibly as she took in the image of the naked man before her. It wasn't that he was nude that had her so panicked, she was well aware of what the male anatomy looked like thanks to the numerous biology lessons her father had given her and her sisters – it was the fact that he looked relatively human – a far cry from the half-changed form he had been in the process of morphing into on the basement steps of the crypt.

The closer she looked at him the more she realized that he wasn't completely human. His dark green eyes were almost pitch black as he stared her down – his pupils slit like an animals.

And he looked _hungry._

Butch swallowed thickly and extended his hand to her. "Come here Buttercup."

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Buttercup shrieked as she struggled to free Ares's reins, which were hopelessly tangled in the tree branches above her head "Y-YOU'RE ONE OF _THEM!"_ she felt like ripping out her long ebony locks in frustration, as she felt frightened tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "GOD HOW DID I NOT SEE IT SOONER?! I'M SUCH AN IDIOT! IT ALL MADE PERFECT SENSE!"

Raw, unmasked hurt flashed across Butch's face for a brief moment at her stinging words, before his expression hardened. "Come here. _Now."_ Another spasm rippled through his body, and Buttercup watched, terrified, as his abnormally sharp teeth sank into his lower lip, as he attempted to hold back the primal beast that was threatening to rip out of his skin.

 _Damn it. not here, not now!_ Butch thought desperately as he started to sweat and shake despite the below freezing temperature. His fingernails bit into his palms as he forced the beast back down into his chest with the rest of his demons. _I can't hold it back for much longer…_

"Buttercup, I'm not playing with you… come here. I don't have much time before… I have to get you out of here – it's not safe-"

"You must be joking!" Buttercup let out a breathy laugh as Ares thrashed about behind her, trying to free himself from the mess of branches. "The only thing that's dangerous in this place is _you!"_

"Buttercup please! I can't I can't hold back the shift for much longer, and I don't want Ares to bolt-"

The powerful man trailed off in the middle of his sentence as something behind her caught his attention. His eyes widened and he visually paled, his muscles locking and tensing as a low, threatening growl ripped forth from deep in his throat.

"Buttercup… get behind me...now!" He snarled as he kept his eyes locked on whatever was behind her – the snarl that was coming from him, becoming more and more distorted and animal sounding with every passing second.

"I'm not coming anywhere _near_ you!" Buttercup hissed – not willing to take her eyes off of the nude man to see what was behind her. "Give me one good reason to!"

An emotion that she had never seen Butch display suddenly appeared him his eyes. It took her a moment to place what exactly it was that she was seeing – only for her to place it a second later as Butch pointed behind her and roared out:

"THE BEAR BUTTERCUP, THE _BEAR!"_

 _Fear. It was fear she was seeing in his eyes._

She spun in place so fast she almost lost her balance, only for her eyes to widen in horror.

There, pushing its massive body out of the dense trees a few feet away from them – was a massive grizzly bear – the biggest that Buttercup had ever seen before. Grunting and snarling, it slowly lumbered towards them, its massive claws leaving deep gouges in the snow as it's beady black eyes locked on her and Ares – who had thrown himself into a frenzy upon seeing the grizzly approach them.

"Oh god… oh god please no." Buttercup whispered, fighting the urge to simultaneously scream and sink to her knees at the apparent hopelessness of the situation. She was truly caught between a rock and a hard place – trapped between an enraged grizzly bear and a true monster in sheep's clothing. All she could do was stare in terror between them both, wondering how in the hell was she was going to get out of there alive.

Butch on the other hand, wasn't blind to the crushing panic that was coming off Buttercup in waves. Something deep and primal in Butch snapped seeing pure terror written across the young woman's face and a low growl started to build in his throat, which quickly escalated into a full-on roar, as the moon peeked out from behind the clouds and drenched him in moonlight, causing his body start to grow and expand rapidly, as white-hot rage coursed through his veins – momentarily blinding him.

 _ **Protect her. Protect her – keep her safe. KILL THIS FUCKING THING. RIP ITS GODDAMN THROAT OUT. NOTHING TOUCHES HER. NOTHING.**_

A blinding white light filled his vision as he let out a challenging roar at the approaching bear. He felt as if he had jumped in kerosene and had been lit on fire, as liquid fire coursed through his veins as he .

 _ **KEEP HER SAFE. KEEP HER SAFE. KEEP HER SAFE. MUST KEEP HER… SAFE…**_

Buttercup whirled around just in time to see Butch contort painfully – his bones snapping and cracking from the sudden stress as the beast forcefully pushed itself to the surface. His muscles tore and stretched at an alarming rate, as corse black hair – the same colour as the hair on his head – pushed itself up from his pores, as his jaws elongated and filled with razor sharp fangs, sending scarlet drops of blood dripping into the snow from the sudden intrusion of sharp teeth ripping though his gums.

If she hadn't been already traumatized with fear, Buttercup would have screamed at the sight before her – but all she could do was stand as stiff as a board and watch in terrified fascination, as the beast ripped out of Butch's skin.

The wolf slammed down onto all fours and let out a menacing roar at the bear, who had paused its approach towards Buttercup to watch the man transform into the nightmarish creature, before letting out a roar of its own – seemingly not deterred by the enraged beast, that was glaring at it with deep green – almost black eyes.

Buttercup turned to the side so she could look at both monsters – not daring to show her back to either one of them in case they decided to attack – and weighed her options. She was trapped in-between both of them: an a thousand pound hungry grizzly, and the thing that came straight from her nightmares – the creature responsible for countless deaths, and the murder of several of her family members.

 _Butch._

She cast a fleeting glance over at the werewolf who hadn't taken his eyes off of the bear a few feet away from them and looked into his all-too familiar green eyes, and was immediately taken back to the first time she had laid eyes on the beast back in the forest.

 _They were_ his _eyes she had been looking at. That sense of familiarity that she had gotten from looking at him hadn't been in her head after all. She knew that she had seen them from somewhere… and now it all made sense…_

The angry snarl of the bear in front of her brought her back to reality, and she was once again reminded of the predicament she was in. she gave the grizzly a weary once-over. Black, beady eyes, matted brown fur, and a maw fall of nasty sharp teeth, dripping with foam. Not to mention the massive claws that were digging into the snow in anticipation of the meal in front of it.

A soft growl from behind her made her throw a hesitant peak over her shoulder at the black wolf behind her, only to find that he was looking straight at her with those oddly human eyes.

His hypnotizing green eyes were calm as he stared back at her. His pupils were dilated, and he let out a small rumble as he took a hesitant step forward, as if not to startle he, only for his eyes to harden and a fearsome snarl to rip from his mouth as the bear attempted to move closer to her. Buttercup forced back a shudder as the wolf's warm breath washed over her as she weighed her options.

She couldn't escape on Ares, and if she tried to run she would get torn to shreds by either one of the brutal titans. The bear seemed more likely to kill her then Butch did however, even in the horrific state he was in. There was something about him that was different from the last time she had encountered him, he didn't seem as feral as he did before, but…

He hadn't hurt her then… so maybe there was a possibility that he wouldn't hurt her now.

Buttercup grit her teeth nervously as she glanced over at the hulking mass of fangs and claws that looked ready to kill something. She didn't know what was about to happen to her, but if she had to pick the lesser of two evils – then it looked like Butch was the better option – if only by the slightest margin.

Swallowing her fear, she slowly began to back up towards the massive black werewolf without taking her eyes off of the agitated grizzly, who began to advance ever so slightly as she backed up, only for the beast's hackles to raise, and let out a warning growl that made the bear hastate, allowing Buttercup back up until she felt the wolf's hot breath on the nape of her neck.

She shuddered as she turned her head to look at the green-eyed beast out of the corner of her eye, only to be met with silted deep green irises. She clenched up instinctively as the brute lightly pressed his nose into her back – sniffing her, inspecting her, before licking her gently as a gentle-sounding rumble escaped his throat.

Buttercup allowed herself to relax slightly as the wolf finished his assessment of her, determining that he wasn't going to hurt her, although his intimidating appearance suggested otherwise.

Still maintaining eye contact with the green-eyed wolf, she slowly lowered herself to the ground between his massive, clawed, hand-like paws, and crawled beneath his underside, noting that the Butch's head slowly lowered to look at her nestled between his legs – almost as if to reassure himself that she was safe – before returning his attention back to the bear across from them.

Despite how terrified she was, she couldn't help but take a second to admire the beast up close. Even on all fours he was still bigger than her standing up – she figured that he had to be close to eight and a half feet standing up on his hind legs, like he had done the last time they had met in the woods.

 _All the better to completely overwhelm any unfortunate victim that he came across in his primal state._

She crouched down in the snow and shivered as she felt the heat radiating off of the massive wolf like a furnace – feeling more defenseless then she had ever felt in her life.

She was completely at the mercy of two brutal forces of nature who had the power to rip her in half in the blink of an eye, and there was no way out. She glanced up at the colossal black wolf as she wrapped her cloak tighter around her shaking frame. _She truly was stuck between a rock and a hard place. At least Butch hadn't killed her… yet._

The grizzly let out another roar and slowly began to advance again, only for Butch to snarl ferly and lower himself towards the snow-covered ground – shielding her from the behemoth.

Buttercup felt her body stiffen as she saw the powerful muscles in the beast's legs tense in anticipation – his massive claws flexing in and out, digging into the snow – and that was when she realized that she needed to move.

It was unavoidable. The bear and the werewolf were going to fight, and if the way they kept bellowing at each other was an indicator – it was going to be a fight to the death.

A fight that she dare not get caught in the middle of.

The bear took another step forward and the growl that had been building in Butch's throat increased in volume – black lips pulled back, revealing bright white fangs the size of stake knives, as he sank low onto his front legs.

It took Buttercup a fraction of a second to realize that he was going to lunge at the grizzly

That was the only warning she got, as Butch let out an ear-splitting roar and flung himself at the burly grizzly, giving her just enough time to roll out of the lunging wolf's way, and out of the immediate path of the fight.

The massive, bipedal wolf slammed into the grizzly with the force of a locomotive, barreling into it with enough force to send both of them toppling over into the snow as they begin to rip into each other, sending sprays of red gushing into the air, as claws and teeth found fur and skin – biting and tearing mercilessly.

Buttercup let a small scream of shock escape before she could stop it, causing the grizzly to turn its ugly head in her direction, only to have a massive clawed hand rake deep gashes down the side of its face – drawing its attention away from her and back towards the pissed off wolf, who had managed to rear back up onto his hind legs – standing at a terrifying height of over eight feet.

The grizzly reared up onto its hind legs in response as both monsters began to circle each other like professional boxers, before throwing themselves at each other again – flashes of sharp, white teeth caught the moonlight as Butch sank his fangs into the bears already bleeding face, as the grizzly raked its claws down the sides of his back – opening up deep gashes, and causing torrents of red to poor down into the snow, as the black terror let out a muffled howl of pain and bit down harder into the bear's face – bringing his clawed hands up and sinking them into the bear's burly arms in an attempt to force it to release him.

Buttercup desperately back-pedaled on the ground, trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and the insuring fight – hardly daring to breath as she watched the colossal titans fight savagely. The sounds of panicked neighing behind her, forcing her to rip her gaze away from the fight and look behind her to see Ares still hopelessly tangled in the tree branches behind her – only becoming more ensnared in the thicket of branches as he tried to pull himself out.

Buttercup forced herself up off the ground and dashed over to the dark horse. "Easy, easy!" she soothed as she jumped up, trying to reach the reins ensnared in the branches above her head – trying to settle the stallion at the same time.

The sound of a sharp crack and an inhuman shriek of pain caused her to turn back around towards the fight so fast that her head spun, only to gag at what she saw. Butch had managed to puncture his teeth straight through the bears muzzle – locking his jaws around the grizzly's face, causing blood to spurt everywhere

The grizzly let out a muffled bellow of pain and began to writhe in agony and lash out violently, as the transformed Butch clawed at the bear's appendages in an attempt to lock the beast in place – only to get backhanded across the face by one of the grizzly's wild claws – leaving deep gashes across the wolf's face. The blow stunned the black beast momentarily, giving the grizzly enough time to tear his face out of the wolf's jaws and push him back into the trees behind him.

Buttercup gasped in horror as she looked at the bears mangled face – the deep holes in its muzzle leaking blood like a faucet as it changed at the bipedal wolf, who was struggling to regain his footing after being slammed into the trees, only to get barreled over by the raging bear – the old trees splintering and cracking from the force – sending splinters of wood fly into the air, as the beasts conjoined roars mixed into the frigid air as they fell back into the snow, biting and howling as they thrashed around in the red snow.

Buttercup pressed herself against Ares flank as she watched the titans thrash and writhe on the ground next to her as they bit and clawed – desperate to end the other's life in a brutal powerplay. The lime eyed woman watched as the bear managed to put a heavy paw on Butch's neck and began to push down on the wolf's thick neck. The green-eyed wolf's enraged snarls were cut off suddenly, as he struggled to remove the claws that were digging into his neck – drawing blood from the spaces in-between the large, dagger-like claws.

 _It'll kill him!_ Buttercup panicked as she watched the massive wolf struggle weakly, his massive clawed hands ripping into the bears chest in an effort to force the bleeding grizzly off, opening up more deep gashes, but it only served to anger the bear father, as it roared and pressed down harder on his windpipe, almost completely cutting off his airways. The black wolf panted feverishly as he struggled to get air into his lungs, only to have the bear push down harder on his larynx. _It'll crush his windpipe and it'll suffocate him!_ Buttercup clenched her fists, _I have to do something-_

The thought made her stop. Why did she even care? He was a monster that was responsible for the deaths of her Uncle and Grandfather and countless of townspeople – not to mention he and his brothers were responsible for mauling Mitch, her closet childhood friend. It shouldn't matter if the bear killed him – it'd would be doing the town a favor if anything.

But… she stopped. For whatever reason, the thought made her sick to her stomach. She attributed it to the fact that she wasn't a monster like him.

Not to mention that if he did, it would leave her in a less then desirable position with a ravenous and furious bear.

Lunging for the reins tangled above her head, she yanked them down and screamed. "GET UP BUTCH! DON'T YOU DARE LET THIS THING KILL YOU! YOU HAVE TO GET UP. GET. UP! YOU MONSTER!"

The wolf's pointed ears flicked at the sound of her voice, and he weakly shifted his head in her direction. Unfortunately, so did the bear.

The grizzly let out a threatening rumble as it trained its beady black eyes on her, shifting its attention away from the bleeding werewolf, as if only just remembering that she was there, and how she was its original target.

Ares let out a shriek behind her and nearly reared, but Buttercup clenched the reins tightly in her hands as she yanked his head back down, frantically pushing on the massive stallion's flank in order to get him to back up. If Butch was unable to rise, she would have to make a break for it. She had no idea where she was and she knew that she would only become more lost the further she ran into the woods, but she couldn't stay there – not while the grizzly was still alive.

But…

The wolf was still looking at her – he was bleeding heavily from all of the gouges that the bear had inflicted on him, and he was panting hard as he struggled to force oxygen into his deflated lungs, but he refused to take his unnatural forest irises off of her, and that was when Buttercup realized something:

They weren't the wolf's eyes. They were Butch's eyes she was looking at.

That meant that he was still in there – or at least he still maintained a shred of his humanity. He hadn't given up just yet.

The grizzly licked it's destroyed snout, and began to advance on her like a true predator, momentarily forgetting about the collapsed werewolf underneath its claws, as it slowly took its paw off of the wolf's neck, allowing the dark beast to breathe again, and giving him the opportunity to slowly push himself up off the ground, and onto his unsteady back legs – blood pouring out of his open wounds all the while.

As the bear let out a hungry growl, Buttercup felt a lone tear escape her as she locked at the bleeding werewolf. _"Butch… for the love of god… please do something."_

The wolf noticed her silent plea, and something deep within him snapped.

 _ **KEEP HER SAFE.**_

Buttercup watched as the wolf's eyes darkened until they were almost black, and his lips pulled back into a growl, showcasing his bloodstained fangs. Every muscle in his body tightened and flexed as his claws hyper extended – the growl building in his throat turned into an earth-shaking bellow, as he flattened his ears to his head and threw himself at the bear.

The massive creature only had enough time to turn around and look up at the nightmarish creature that looked like the bringer of death, before the wolf's jaws found its neck and bit down hard, causing blood to spurt everywhere.

The grizzly let out a cry of shock as it slowly registered the teeth that were sinking into its thick neck. It weakly tried to shake the offending beast off, only for the wolf's jaws to clench father around it's thick neck – blood dripping down his face and onto the snow below in a thick red waterfall as the wolf let out a feral snarl and tore his face to the side with a muffled bellow – tearing out the bear's esophagus and throat in one, clean movement, as blood began to erupt from the gaping hole where it's neck used to be like a geyser.

Buttercup couldn't bring herself to make a sound as she watched the gory scene unfold before her very eyes – not even noticing the spray of blood that got on her face and dress as the bear jerked and twisted around unnaturally for a few seconds, before collapsing onto the wet, crimson snow and did not move again.

Buttercup could barely breath as she shakily wiped the splotches of blood of her face with a pale hand, before looking up at the werewolf that stood before her. The beast stood silhouetted against the pale moonlight, as blood fell like crimson rain from the open, bleeding gashes that the grizzly had inflicted on him for a moment, before turning his head and flung the bear's esophagus somewhere behind him.

The wolf limped over to the dead corpse and put his foot on the bear's head. Sucking in a deep breath, the beast let out an ear-piercing howl, tilting his head up towards the moon as he let out his bone-chilling cry. Buttercup backed up against Ares as she prepared to fling herself up onto his back. She didn't know what to expect from the injured beast, but she was ready to flee if need be.

The werewolf slowly lowered his head, as he fixed his glowing green eyes on her prone from. He took a step in her direction, only to pause in mid-step as a pained rumble escaped his throat. He looked down at his mauled form, as if only noticing the extensive damage for the first time, then looked back up at her with clouded eyes. He seemed to reach for her, only for his eyes to roll back into his head, and fall into the red-tinted snow with a muffled thud.

Buttercup backed up as the beast hit the ground in front of her, and stared at his unmoving form silently – waiting for him to get up and lunge at her – but he remained motionless.

That's when she saw it: the deep, red pool was starting to seep out from underneath the beasts massive body. Buttercup placed a hand on Ares neck as she watched the red stain grow bigger and bigger with each passing second – the scene illuminated by the pale moonlight – making it look even more deadly.

 _Serves you right._ She thought savagely to herself as she watched the bitter winds ruffle the unmoving monster's thick coat. _This is what you get for causing so much misery-_

Her thoughts were paused momentarily as she was plunged into darkness. She looked around the almost pitch-black forest wildly – half expecting to see another monster come flying towards her – only to realize a second later that the moon had disappeared behind some clouds.

She couldn't suppress the shiver that made its way up her spine as she looked around the now dark forest. Everything looked so much more sinister in the dark, and it didn't help that she was in the deep woods – where there was little light to begin with.

She gently pulled Ares towards her as she slowly made her way around the massive, dark carcass that she identified as the grizzly's, before hesitantly approaching the unconscious werewolf that was lying motionless in the middle of the ever-growing dark pool of his own blood. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she noticed the slight rise and fall of the beast's broad back, and silently debated on if she should run, or if she should scream bloody murder at him.

She didn't get the opportunity to make up her mind, as the werewolf's body contorted awkwardly, making her jump back a foot in fright, dragging Ares with her.

Butch's colossal form began to shudder violently, almost as if he was having a seizure. Buttercup watched in fascination as the transformation undid itself before her very eyes. Butch's bones shifted, cracking and popping back into place, as the thick, black pelt that covered his body shed and fell out of his pores. His claws retracted back into his nailbeds, and his elongated jaws shrank back into his face, until all that was left was then man behind the monster – a bleeding and unconscious man, but a man – almost as if he had never been a monster in the first place.

Buttercup looked at the now human man in contempt and revulsion, as her fear slowly faded and was replaced by anger. Buttercup was then struck by just how much she hated him – the realization hitting her hard, as she glared at the broken body lying in front of her.

 _He and his brothers had been the wolves the inter time._ Buttercup wanted to smack herself for not realizing it sooner. It seemed to obvious now – the signs had been there – but she had been to blind to see them. They had all been too blind to see them.

They truly had played them all for fools.

Her piercing lime irises narrowed at the thought. They had gotten away with so much death and destruction over the years, but that was all about to change – she wouldn't let them get away with any more carnage. She knew their darkest and most well-kept secret, and now, she was going to expose them for the monsters they were when she got back into town.

Buttercup gripped Ares reigns and prepared to throw herself onto his back with the intent on getting out of the woods and back to her sisters as fast as she could – when a tiny moan made her freeze in place.

She threw a glance over her shoulder back at Butch, who was still lying motionless in the snow, surrounded by a pool of his own blood, that was growing larger with each passing minute, and felt her eyes harden with contempt.

She hated him. She hated him, his brothers and the rest of his family. She hated what he was, she hated what he had done to the town and to her family.

She hated him, she hated him, she hated him. Buttercup chanted over and over again in her head, but the rage was quickly fading and being replaced by something else the longer she looked at his broken form laid out in the snow.

She hated him.

And yet…

She couldn't leave him to die.

Buttercup sighed softly to herself. As much as she hated him and everything he and his brothers had done – she couldn't bring herself to stoop to his level and leave him to bleed out alone and cold in the snow. She didn't have it in her to be that heartless.

Gripping Ares reins tightly, she slowly approached the wounded man, stopping a foot short of him, and was quickly reminded of the fact that he was very much naked – much to her discomfort. She halted the massive stallion next to Butch's collapsed form, and unclasped her cloak from around her shoulders and gently laid it out on top of him – trying to stanch the blood that was still gushing out of the angry, red slashes that covered every inch of his exposed skin, and shelter him from the below freezing winds.

The slight gesture made Butch groan quietly and open his familiar forest green eyes slightly, and slowly managed to focus on her. Buttercup was momentarily taken back by the look in his eyes. He seemed surprised that she hadn't fled. Truthfully, she was amazed that she hadn't taken off herself, but she knew what she just couldn't leave him to die alone in the snow, no matter how much her mind was telling her to.

Looking at him, Buttercup quickly realized that she had a problem. Butch was close to six foot five and probably had close to a hundred pounds on her slight frame. There was absolutely no way that she would be able to get him into an upright position by herself in the condition that he was in, much less lift him up onto Ares back.

Unless…

She winced. She really didn't want to have to ask him what she was about to ask him, but there was no way that she would be able to move him otherwise.

Buttercup knelt down next to Butch's broken form and gently brushed some dark strands of hair away from his eyes, noticing that his deep green irises – despite being cloudy and unfocused – latched on to her slender frame with an almost desperate look in them– almost like he was afraid that she would disappear if he looked away for a moment.

Buttercup gently touched his arm to make him focus on her, and watched sadly as his clouded eyes slowly traveled up to meet her worried lime ones. "I need you to help me." She whispered to him quietly, barely audible over the cold night wind howling though the barren trees. When he didn't say anything in return, she swallowed dryly.

"I'm going to need you to stand."

Butch remained silent as he tried to process her request in his muddled brain. The longer he remained silent for, the more worried Buttercup grew. She looked him over again, noting that the bear had done even more damage to him then the she had originally thought. She could see deep gouges littering the parts of his body that her cloak wasn't covering – some looking as if they were cut right down to the bone. Buttercup shuddered as she watched more blood escape the deeper gashes at an alarming rate.

 _Those aren't even all of his wounds._ The obsidian haired woman thought to herself as she waited for him to respond to her request. _I don't even know the full extent of his injuries – hell he might not even be able to stand._ She thought to herself darkly. If he wasn't the monster that she now knew him to be – she very much doubted that he would still be drawing breath.

A sudden grown bubbled up from deep in Butch's throat, as he slowly pulled his arms down to his sides, and planted his hands firmly in the snow next to him. He paused for a second to catch his breath, gritting his teeth together tightly, before sinking his hands into the snow-covered grounds and pushing himself up off the blood-stained snow with the most horrible sound that Buttercup had ever heard a person make in her life.

She immediately moved to help steady him, and wedged herself under one of his arms to help stabilize him as more pained noises escaped past his teeth, as he slowly rose to his feet, causing more blood to run down his body in rivulets from the open gashes that littered his body.

Buttercup cringed as she felt his warm blood soak though her clothes and stain her skin, but she didn't dare loosen her grip on him, as she helped him take a few painful steps towards Ares, who thankfully remained still – as if already knowing what was at stake.

"Alright, I'm going to need you to help me get you onto his back." Buttercup murmured gently to Butch, as she unwrapped his heavy arm from around her shoulders and placed it over Ares neck. "You're too big for me to lift on my own. I'm going to boost you up by your legs, but you have to pull yourself up onto him. There's no saddle, so you're going to have to hold on the best you can… do you think you can do that for me?"

"Yes…" Butch huffed quietly, placing his free arm across Ares back, dripping blood all the while. "Just do it quick…"

"Okay, okay, I'm going to go as fast as I can." Buttercup promised him as she knelt down by his legs. Wrapping her arms around them, the ravenette glanced back up at the wounded man. "Are you ready?"

"No… just do it quick." Butch grounded out through clenched teeth as he fought back the urge to scream in agony from the slight touch. Buttercup sensed the man's clear discomfort and nodded. "Right, one, two, three-"

Buttercup pushed upwards, helping Butch heave himself up onto Ares's back. The larger man let out a scream of pain as he felt the already deep gashes littering his chest and abdomen open farther, causing white spots to dance in front of his eyes from the intense pain.

"There got it!" Buttercup yelled, her voice rising an octave from the blind panic running though her. After making sure that Butch was secured on the horse's back, she quickly ran around Ares other side and cradled Butch's blood-soaked face in her hands. "Are you alright?"

"Fuck… goddamn it…" the blood-soaked man moaned, coughing speckles of blood into the snow below. "Tell me we're done…"

"Yes, we're done, no more pulling." Buttercup quickly reassured him as she frantically wiped his mouth with her hand. "Just hang on Butch, I'll get us back to your home… your brother's will know what to do."

The thought made her heart stop briefly.

 _Oh god, his brothers. What was she going to do about them? How was she going to explain what had happened to Butch before they killed her themselves? They were all monsters, not just Butch._

She clutched the reins nervously. With any luck, the boys would be too concerned with the state of the battered ravenette to disembowel her. She could only hope that she could explain the situation before it escalated farther… it was a long shot, but she had to hope that the remaining brothers would be willing to listen to her.

After all… there was no denying that Butch had saved her life… she couldn't just leave him… even if he did deserve it.

With that thought in mind, she tugged on Ares reins and began the trip back to the estate – hoping, praying, that she would be able to make it back there just in time before Butch was lost forever.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

The sky was lightening with the first signs of dawn by the time Buttercup finally managed to lead them out of the forest.

She looked around the clearing with bloodshot eyes – wearily searching for any signs of Brick or Boomer, only to be met with the sound of the wind whistling through the treetops. She let out a tiny sigh of relief as she trudged towards the looming mansion that was casting an ominous shadow across the fields. She wasn't sure if she was ready to face them just yet… not after she had seen in the crypt.

She chocked on bile in the back of her throat as the picture of Boomer's warped bones flashed though her mind. The sounds they made… the shift that had overtaken him and Brick and Butch…

She looked past Ares broad neck at the now comatose man that was draped over the horses back. It was hard to believe that he really was a monster. In all honestly, the signs had been there, but she had hoped that maybe she had been wrong – hoped that she had been wrong – prayed that she had been wrong… but ever since she and her sisters had come home to Townsville, they had the worst luck – why should the boys have been an exception?

She crossed the fields, past the dead gardens, and the barn, and up to the front of the house. The dark-haired girl looked around at the darkened windows, and twitched nervously. How in the hell was she supposed to get Butch into the house? More importantly, what was she going to tell Mojo…

" _HEY!"_

Buttercup flinched as she saw the approaching forms of Brick and Boomer running towards them from the direction of the crypt. _They had probably let themselves out when they had changed back_ … she bit the inside of her cheek at the thought, and clutched Ares reins tighter. As terrified as she was of them – she was glad to see that they had returned to their normal states, that way they could help her with Butch.

She threw a glance over her shoulder to check up on the man. He was in serious trouble. His face was ashen and she noted that he had fallen unconscious just as they were making their way out of the woods – stopping the horrible groans that had been coming out of his mouth on the way back – but scaring her at the same time. Those groans had been the only thing reassuring her that he was still alive, and she couldn't tell if he was still breathing or not from the way he was laying across Ares back.

She made the mistake of looking behind her and cringed at the blood trail that they had left behind after exiting the forest. Splatters and drops of dark crimson blood stained the snow, and she could see that more was slowly dripping off Ares back and onto the ground below at an alarming rate, from the bloody mass that was Butch.

 _Alive or not, he hadn't stopped bleeding yet, which made her believe that he wasn't quiet dead… yet._

"Butch… Butch." She croaked as she shook his arm. A tiny moan escaped the wounded man, and Butch's fingers twitched slightly – letting her know that he alive, but other than that, he did not move.

Buttercup swallowed thickly – her tongue suddenly feeling as dry as sand paper in her mouth. Just how in the hell was she going to explain to Brick and Boomer what had happened to their brother, before both boys ripped her head off? They were just as dangerous as Butch was, and she wasn't sure how they were going to react upon seeing their brother in his current state.

She didn't have much time to dwell on that thought before both Brick and Boomer charged up to her. Buttercup took both of them wearily – not daring to take her eyes off of either man. Both had transformed back into their human states, but she knew it was all a lie – she knew was lay just under the surface if their skin, and it was pure _evil._

She was so caught up in her own thoughts, that she barely registered that Brick was talking to her until he was directly in front of her face.

"There you are. Where in the hell did you disappear to-"

Brick stopped as soon as his eyes fell on Butch's limp, bleeding form on top of his horse. His jaw fell slack and his face paled rapidly as he switched his gaze from her to him, before finally closing his jaw – his face looking like thunder as he glared at her.

"What the fuck did you do." He growled lowly as he stormed towards her, Boomer barely having enough time to grab his arm as he bellowed at her, " _What the FUCK DID YOU DO?!"_

"Nothing!" Buttercup screamed back, fighting the urge to hide behind the massive black stallion, who jerked his head at the loud shouting. "I didn't do this to him, I swear! How could I?!"

"Who did this to him?" Boomer yelled as he moved from Brick's side to lift Butch's bleeding head in his hands. "Oh my god he's covered in blood! Brick – he's not healing fast enough, if at all! I don't think that his healing factor is kicking in!"

"Probably because he's taken on too much damage." Brick snarled, not taking his blazing red eyes off of Buttercup's shaking form. "I'll ask again: What. The fuck. Happened?"

"There was a bear." Buttercup croaked out. "There was a huge bear, and it was about to attack me and well…" she looked up at Butch's broken form. "… Butch got in the way…"

"Must have been a pretty big bear, if it was able to do this much damage him." Boomer muttered as he attempted to peel Buttercup's blood-soaked cloak off of him to assess his bleeding gashes farther. "Fuck Brick, he's barely breathing, and he's lost so much blood – we need to stitch him up fast or we're going to lose him!"

"Get him inside." Brick muttered to him. "Get sutchers, medical gauze, everything. I'll be along in a minute."

"Right." Boomer hissed as he very slowly and gently slid Butch off of Ares back before settling the massive man into his arms with some difficulty. "Brick, what are we going to tell dad?" He huffed as he shifted Butch's head onto his shoulder.

"Nothing. He doesn't need to know right away. We'll tell him later – Make sure that he and Ace especially don't see him in the meantime. Get Butch upstairs – we can't lose him." And for the first time since she came back to Townsville – Buttercup saw panic flash across Brick's still-pale face. It was gone in the next second as Boomer made his way up the mansion's stone steps as fast as he could without jostling Butch too much. "and for the love of god, don't fucking drop him!" Brick roared after him, noticing the slick trail of blood that was following after the dark-haired man.

"Ya think?" Boomer grunted as he forced the front door open and maneuvered his way inside, leaving Brick and Buttercup alone outside. Livid red eyes met vivid green ones as soon as Boomer was out of sight, only for Brick to snatch the reins out of her hands. "Give me that." He snarled as he tossed the reins over the stallion's head, making Buttercup jump at the sudden motion against her will.

Brick didn't say anything for a while, instead opting to stare at her – silently fuming – while Buttercup tried and failed to stop herself from shaking – half of it due to the biting cold, and half of it out of pure fear.

Finally, Brick raised his hand, and Buttercup shut her eyes – bracing herself for the blow that was sure to follow – only it never came. The red eyed man brought his hand down on Ares flank with a light slap. "Git." He muttered quietly to the blood-soaked horse. Ares let out a snort but slowly started to move back towards the stables, where Buttercup could clearly see that the painted doors were still swinging open from when she had burst of them on Ares back in a blind panic.

"How does he know where to go?" the raven-haired woman found herself asking curiously. Brick shook his head. "All of our mounts are well-trained, they know how to listen." His eyes narrowed as he focused back on her. "I can't say the same for you though."

Buttercup clenched her hands into fists. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you can't take a hint, and stay away even if it's for your own good." Brick snapped back viciously. "I can't even begin to count how many warnings my brothers and I gave you and your sisters about the full moon and the woods. We warned you it was dangerous. We told you to stay away – that it was for your own safety – but _nooo._ You just _had_ to come snooping around, and now look what's happened. At least I now know that two out of the three of you can listen to our warnings."

He looked at her bitterly. "But you can't. and that's a problem. For God's sake Buttercup, I know that you're the most stubborn of your sisters, but why couldn't you have just listened to us for once in your life?"

"The only reason why you gave us all of those warnings was to save your own hides – so don't you _dare_ try and pin this on me!" Buttercup snarled back, matching his venom with her own – her fear now quickly dissolving into anger at his words. "Now I see you and your brothers for what you really are. No wonder you tried to keep my sisters and I away and tell us as little as you could about the woods. The only monsters that are here are you three!"

Her words hung in the frosty morning air, as Brick regarded her coolly, not affected by her words in the slightest. He was deathly silent for a moment as he mulled over what she had said over in his mind of a moment or two. Before Buttercup could blink, he had grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her up against the mansion's cold stone wall, ignoring the choked sob that escaped her throat.

"You're not going to tell them ANYTHING about what you saw tonight." He hissed dangerously. "The only reason why I'm letting you leave here is because if you don't go back – your sisters will come looking for you – because I'm guessing that they know that you're here… don't they?" He didn't wait for her response. "and if you don't come back, they'll come up here looking for you, and I'm not ready to tell them about our… little secret yet."

He sneered unkindly. "You should consider yourself luck. Normally, people who see us never live long enough to tell the tale. You're so damn lucky that Butch wants you so much, otherwise you'd be dead."

Buttercup stared at him – wide-eyed and shaking. "What do you want with us?" she finally whispered. Brick looked her over once more, before releasing her with a growl. "You'll find out soon enough. For now, you're going to get your horse and go back home – and you're not going to say ANYTHING about what you saw here tonight – especially to your sisters and father."

"Oh really? And how are you going to stop me?" Buttercup challenged the intimating male, finally finding her voice. Brick's cold red eyes narrowed at the challenge before a cruel smirk spread across his lips – almost as if someone has craved it into his face like a knife.

"Oh, I'll know of you say something little flower. I have eyes and ears _everywhere._ " He rumbled politely, but his voice carried an underlying threat. "If you say one word about what happed here tonight, I'll know, and I'll make sure that you never say anything again."

Buttercup felt her blood turn to ice at his promise. "What, are you going to kill me then?" she asked breathlessly. Brick bit back a laugh. "Oh no. No, no. Butch would lose his mind if anything happened to you, but you should know that my family is quite good at making people… disappear – if you catch my drift."

Buttercup felt the remaining colour in her face leave at his words. Brick only smiled as he backed up, removing his hands from her shoulders. "Just keep that in mind before you say anything. Because if you talk, you'll put your sisters at risk too, and I'm sure that you don't want anything to happen to them now, do you?"

The raven-haired girl almost felt her knees collapse from out under her. _It wasn't enough for this monster to threaten her – no he was going after her sisters as well!_

Buttercup grit her teeth. Her sisters had already been attacked once before by the monsters- _no the boys_ , she corrected herself mentally – she wasn't about to put them into harm's way again. it was the reason that she had come up here alone in the first place!

"Fine." She got out through her gritted teeth. "I won't say anything about your… situation. Just..." She hung her head in defeat. "Just stay away from my sisters."

Brick grinned. "All in due time Buttercup. All in due time. But in exchange, I'm expecting you to co-operate with us." Buttercup let out a shuddering breath. "What do you want from me? I already promised you that I wouldn't say anything-"

"Not just that. If we call you up here, I'm expecting you to come without complaint. Something tells me that Butch is going to want some extra… company while he recovers."

Buttercup openly cringed. "I don't want to be anywhere near him-"

"He saved your life this very night and, you don't want to sit with him while he recovers at the very least?" Brick rose an eyebrow. "That's awfully cold of you. My brother damn near died saving you, and it's from _your_ reckless actions. If anything happens to him, it'll be on your hands."

"Well can you blame me?!" Buttercup cried, "What did you think was going to happen? For all I knew he was going to kill me!"

"Doesn't matter. If we call for you. You're going to come. End of story." Brick snarled. Catching a glimpse of his abnormally sharp teeth was enough to stun her into silence. Brick was silent for a long moment before he cleared his throat.

"You know… you didn't have to bring him back here. You could have just taken off and left him where he was. So, why did you save him?"

Buttercup shut her eyes. _Why did she bring him back? She should have – by all accounts – just left him there to bleed out into the snow. After all, this man, this beast, was responsible for the deaths of countless people, including her Uncle and her Grandfather by extension. So why did she save him…_

"Because I didn't want to stoop to your level." She finally replied. "I didn't want to see him die. Not in front of me at least. I've seen enough death as it is."

Brick regarded her coldly for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Fair enough." He wasn't in the mood to argue with her, after all, whether she hated them or not – there was no denying that she had saved with brother's life, and for that he was grateful to her. He turned to look into the horizon, taking in the faint pink lines spreading across the horizon, signaling that dawn wasn't far off.

"Come, you need to find your horse – wherever you left him – and go home." Brick rumbled. "Dawn will be here shortly."

Buttercup nodded and started to walk off in the direction of where she had tied up her horse – hoping that he hadn't bolted in the commotion, only to stop in her tracks as Brick called out to her.

"Buttercup." He called to her, making her turn around. He smiled crookedly at her. "Not a word, or I'll know."

Buttercup shuddered. Lifting up the hem of her dress, she took down the path leading out of the property, and didn't look back.

* * *

 **Bellum manor**

Buttercup spurred her horse on faster, racing though the still-sleeping town and back towards the manor. She was breathing fast and heavy as unshed tears blinded her vison, before spilling out from her thick black lashes.

She flew past the dark houses and up the path towards her house, not slowing down until she was in front of the stables. Slipping off her horses back, she quickly untacked and led him into an empty stable, before exiting – locking the barn up behind her.

She wiped angry at her wet cheeks. _How dare he. How dare he threaten her, when he was the one who should scared-_

But she couldn't deny that he had frightened her. Now that she knew what he was – she didn't doubt that he would live up to his promise. She shuddered as she walked to the back of the house. _Just what did he mean by making them disappear…?_

She shook herself free of his threat and slipped into to back yard, making her way around to the unlocked dining room window. Scanning the dark windows on the upper floors, she determined that the rest of her family was still asleep. She breathed a sigh of relief. With any luck, her parents hadn't discovered that she had slipped out of the house.

She quickly made her way to the unlocked dining room window that she had sneaked out of earlier, and slowly pulled it open, slipping inside soundlessly, before turning around and shutting it quietly, locking it behind her.

She stood in the middle of the dark dining room and listened for any sounds upstairs, not daring to breath. Once she determined that her family must still be asleep she crossed the living room and made her way towards the front of the house without so much as a sound. As she reached the front foyer, she undid her boots and reached to unclasp her clock from her shoulders, only to pause, as she realized that she had used it to cover Butch up, and that the dark-haired man must still have it.

She bit back a groan and covered her face with her hands. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could she have forgotten it?! Her parents would surly notice that it was missing when they came downstairs the next morning, and she couldn't say that she had lost it overnight since she had had it last evening._

Although, when she thought about it, it didn't matter if she had brought it back with her or not – considering that Butch's blood was all over it.

She shuddered as memories of his bloody, broken body flashed in front of her eyes. It would be a miracle if he survived the night. He had lost so much blood, she was amazed that he was clinging to life when she had brought him back. She was even more amazed that Brick and Boomer hadn't killed her when they had found them.

She rubbed her arms as she slowly made her way up the grand staircase and up to her room. _No, they hadn't killed her… but Brick had threated her, and something told her that he was serious._

She reached the top of the stairs and crept past her parent's room as she made her way to her room at the end of the hallway, feeling as if she was in a daze. There was so much that she was trying to process, it didn't feel real. None of it felt real. They were the monsters that were terrifying the town, the ones responsible for all the death and destruction, and they needed to die-

"Buttercup?"

Buttercup snapped out her trace with a start and whirled around only to see Blossom peering out at her from behind her bedroom door. The pale red-head opened the door wider and pulled the obsidian haired woman in the room, shutting the door behind her soundlessly. The lime eyed woman barely had time to react before both Blossom and Bubbles pulled her into a hug – sandwiching her in-between their warm bodies. It was only then how cold Buttercup realized that she was compared to her sisters. She allowed herself to be held by them for a moment longer – savoring the warmth they were letting off – before deciding that she had enough, and gently pushed them away, only to stare at Bubbles in confusion.

Bubbles looked at her in concern. "What's wrong?"

"I… thought that you two would be sleeping." Buttercup muttered lamely as she averred her eyes from her sister's bright blue ones, only for the blonde to shake her head. "Not a chance. How could we possibly sleep knowing you were out there?"

"Fair enough, but why are you in Blossom's room?" the ravenette countered as she cocked a confused brow at the blue-eyed beauty, only for Bubbles to flush slightly. "I really couldn't sleep. I was too worried about you to even think about falling asleep – Blossom was in the same boat as me."

"Well… here I am, in one piece… more or less." Buttercup muttered under her breath, before turning her attention to her slightly disheveled older sister, noting that her long auburn locks were mused and stuck out in different directions, contrary to the neat, straight waterfall she normally brushed her locks into every morning. "Blossom, how are you? I hope I didn't cause you too much stress."

"Buttercup, we were so worried about you." Blossom murmured as she pulled her sister into another tight hug. "What happened?"

"I-" Buttercup started to say, only to cut herself off as Brick's threat echoed in the recesses of her mind.

 _My family is quite good at making people… disappear…_

 _I can't tell them._ Buttercup realized painfully. _Not yet… I need to warn them somehow, but not yet._ She shuddered as Brick's warning rang through her mind again. She didn't quite know what he meant by that, but she had no intention of finding out, because as much as she hated to admit it: he had scared her.

She was now painfully paranoid of the "eyes and ears" that he supposedly had around the town – watching and listening to them. If she had to guess, the new errand boy that they had hired was one of the ones who was sneaking around and doing their dirty work, but she wasn't sure if there were any more that she had to watch out for, and if there were, who were they? Who could she trust?

 _No one._

The answer made itself painfully clear to her as she looked at her expecting sisters. She couldn't trust anyone but herself and her immediate family, but even so, she knew that she could put them in terrible danger with the disturbing secret that she now knew.

Suddenly an emotion akin to fear passed over Bubbles's face, and the dainty blonde pulled her sister closer to her as she looked her up and down. "Oh my god, you've got blood all over you." Bubbles whispered as she looked up at her older sister. "Buttercup… who did this to you… what did you do-"

"I…" Buttercup croaked as she tried in vain to cover the faint blood splatters with her hands. "I… it… it's not mine, don't worry about it-"

"Well it came from somewhere." Bubbles fretted as she wiped at one of the larger splotches of drying blood. "What happened out there? Did anyone see you? Did you come across the wolves?"

"Not exactly." Buttercup lied through her teeth, instantly feeling bad about keeping secrets from her sister. _Oh Bubbles, if only you knew what I saw…_

"Buttercup." Blossom snapped firmly, forcing the darker sister to make eye contact with her. "I won't ask again: where did this blood come from? If it's not yours, then who's is it?"

 _God THINK._ Buttercup shrieked at herself mentally. _She can't know the actual story yet! I have to find a way to warn them about the boys, but for now I have to keep them safe! God only knows what Brick will do to them if he gets his claws on them!_

"I, ah… I didn't see the wolves per say, but I believe I stumbled across one of their kills… literally." She sputtered out, praying to whatever god was watching that Blossom would buy her rushed excuse. To her surprise, the older girl's eyes widened slightly, and she lightly folded her arms across her chest, signaling that she would at least hear her out. "Go on." The stunning rose eyed woman pressed gently, causing Buttercup to swallow thickly.

"I was approaching the Jojo's estate though the outer part of the woods." She began slowly, choosing her words carefully. "I was hoping that way I could get onto their property undetected, but just before I reached the property, I tripped and fell over a massive bear carcass and got blood all over me. The whole thing had been completely gutted. The wounds were unnatural, just like all of the attacks before it. I'm certain that those things were responsible."

"Well, what else could it be." Bubbles mused quietly beside her. "Nothing I know would have the strength to take down a bear, and I know how strong they are." she whispered as she rubbed her arm where the bite was. "When those things bite, they lock down on you and they don't let go."

Buttercup nodded, feeling guilt wash over her like a tsunami, but she managed swallow it down with some difficulty. She was too deep in the lie to redeem herself now, and there was no way she was going to allow Brick or his brothers to touch her sister again if she could help it.

"Exactly. I got onto the property with little difficulty, But I didn't see anything. No wolves, no bodies, no boys. I heard plenty of howling, but considering that they're surrounded by hills where they live, the sounds could have just been bouncing off the hills. The wolves could have been anywhere really." She shrugged her shoulders – praying that it would be enough to convince her older sister, and that she wouldn't ask any more questions.

"You're sure that you didn't see the boys? No suspicious active anywhere on their property?" Blossom asked hesitantly, her eyebrow raising farther up her forehead.

"Does it sound like I saw them? No, I didn't see them out anywhere." Buttercup lied through gritted teeth. "Anyone with a lick of common sense was in bed last night. It was bloody cold, nothing was out – at least, not where I was."

Blossom sighed with that Buttercup could only assume was relief, and she fought the urge to tell her sisters everything that really happened. _They had no idea of the terrible danger she had put them all in…_

"You said you tripped over a bear carcass?" she asked suddenly, causing the lime eyed girl to jump slightly with a muttered, "yes…" – not quite sure where her sister was trying to go with the information.

"Odd, I was under the impression that they only lived in the deepest part of the woods, and you said that you were traveling around the outside." The chestnut-haired girl eyed her younger sister suspiciously. "I'm just wondering why a bear was doing there?"

 _Damn her sisters overly-preceptive personality. Blossom never missed a beat._

"Don't ask me Blossom. I'm not a specialist in bear behavior." Buttercup snapped back, instantly feeling bad as she saw unmarked hurt flash across her sister's face. "Look, I don't know why there was a bear there." She added gently. "Maybe it got hungry and woke up from hibernation to go find something to eat, and encountered the wolves at some point, but the carcass was… quite fresh when I stumbled on it. I guess they must have gotten into a fight not long before I arrived, and I must have just missed them."

Blossom was silent for a moment as she processed what she had been told, before sighing. "I suppose so. I'm just glad you're safe and that you weren't caught in the middle of that fight."

"Yeah… So am I." Buttercup muttered, thinking about the brutal fight against bear and beast she had witnessed not an hour earlier. Blossom squinted as she looked closer at her sister's lightly shivering form. "Weren't you wearing a cloak?"

"Yeah… It blew away. The wind was brutal out there." Buttercup sputtered as she scratched the back of her head sheepishly – not at all prepared for her sister to ask that question. "Just my luck, right?"

"Right." Blossom muttered unconvincingly as she leaned back and crossed her arms. Looking out the window at the steadily rising sun, she let out a sigh and rubbed her temples tiredly. "Look… this has been a long night for all of us. I'm amazed we even pulled it off without mama and papa finding out." she glanced at both of her sisters evenly. "I think for now… we should all return to our rooms before our parents wake up and try and get a little bit of sleep. We can discuss this farther at a different point."

"I like that idea." Buttercup jumped in before Bubbles could say a word. "This has been a… trying night for me to say the least… I'll tell you both more about what happened later this afternoon, but for now, I just want to sleep a little." _Anything to avoid answering anymore questions._ She thought to herself darkly.

Moving backwards towards the door, she pushed down on the handle, allowing the door to swing open out into the hall. But before she could leave, Blossom coughed and pointed to her blood smeared clothes.

"You're going to need to get rid of those or hide them Buttercup. We can't have any evidence linking us to what we did. I wouldn't throw them in the wash either – if Nanny sees them, she'll lose her mind, and the last thing we need right now is our family asking us questions about what we're up to behind their backs."

"Oh, don't you worry." Buttercup shot back bitterly as she backed up into the hallway. "The last thing I want right now is for someone to look at my clothes and think that I've murdered someone. I'm going to hide them in the back of my closet for now, and cut them up as soon as I get the chance."

The lightly tanned woman sighed as she rubbed at her eyes tiredly. "I'm… going to go change and try to sleep. I'll tell you more about what happened later, just not right now." Then she promptly turned on her heel and disappeared down the hallway to her room – not bothering to shut the door behind her.

Bubbles let out a sigh though her nose as she looked at the space that Buttercup had occupied moments before. "I don't think she's telling us the full story."

"No of course she's not." Blossom agreed as she folded her arms across her chest. "I don't want to say that she's lying, but _something_ happened out there that she's not telling us. Whatever the reason is, I don't like it."

"If that's the case she probably has her reasons." Bubbles muttered thoughtfully. "Maybe she saw something out there that she's not telling us, but it startled her too much to say what it was?"

"But what exactly could that be?" Blossom asked. "The easy answer is the wolves, but we weren't there, and it could be anything for all we know." She frowned as she looked at Bubbles. "What I do know is that the story she told us about how she got the blood on her clothes isn't real, and I don't believe that her cloak just blew away either. It just doesn't add up…"

"How do you think she got all that blood on her then?" Bubbles murmured as she glanced up at her eldest sister from underneath her lashes. "At least it's not hers, but it had to come from somewhere."

"That's just it: I don't know." Blossom admitted. "Hopefully Buttercup will come clean about it on her own when she elaborates on her story this afternoon. Until then, all we can do is guess."

Bubbles nodded, but she still looked unconvinced. "I'm more worried about what she saw that made her lie to us." The platinum blonde admitted softly. "Since when did we start keeping secrets from each other?"

"I don't know Bubbles." Blossom whispered sadly as she turned to watch the outside world get bathed in an ominous red glow from the early morning sun – making the snow-covered world outside look like it was covered in blood.

"I honestly don't know."

* * *

 **?**

Her wild, dark hair blew around her as she stood just outside of the gate that surrounded the Bellum's property – looking up at the window of the middle daughter's window with a pained expression written across her pale features.

"Oh my dear… what have you done?" she muttered softly as she wrapped her hands around the dark metal bars. "You shouldn't have done that… you should have stayed away like they told you to… now _he_ will come for you."

She looked around at her surroundings frantically, as if expecting something to materialize from the shadows of the forest behind her. When nothing out of the ordinary happened, she returned her attention to the mansion in front of her, shaking her head softly. "Now _he_ will come for all of you… and I cannot save any of you." She looked at the other windows on the top floor that belonged to the other Utonium sisters. "Soon enough you will all find out what they really are… and only God will be able to save you then."

She let go of the bars and closed her light green eyes as she let herself fade into obscurity. She would have to go back to _HIM_ soon and report her findings… but she knew that the creature already knew all that had transpired. After all, that _thing_ knew everything – saw everything. Really, she didn't need to come back at all, but he liked keeping her on a tight leash… always liked keeping her close by…

"Mummy?"

The woman opened her eyes with a start, but all she could see was black. _No, no, no… not again, she didn't need this… she didn't need her demons to come back and haunt her now… not now-_

"Come and play with us mummy, come and play!"

The childish laughter plagued her ears, and she slammed her eyes shut again as she fought the urge to slap her hands over her ears and scream in agony. _She couldn't save them, she couldn't save the girls, hell she couldn't even save herself. All she could do was watch the madness evolve around her, and there wasn't a single thing she could do to stop it._

"Mummy, mummy are you watching us?

"No… mummy can't… not right now. Mummy knows you aren't real… that never happened – you never said those things…" the pale-skinned woman chanted to herself over and over again as she felt the space around her shift and twist – the laughter tormenting her all the while.

"Mum… open your eyes."

Her eyes bolted open again before she could stop them, but this time there were no ghostly images of her children standing in front of her. This time she had warped just outside of Townsville square – behind the town's run-down looking hotel. She stared up at it for a few minutes, trying to figure out why on Earth she had found herself there, before it clicked.

Ah yes, that was right – that horrid man that she had been sent to keep an eye on old gang members were staying at the place while they were in Townsville.

She frowned as she glanced up at the dark windows on the second floor of the old hotel. She wasn't yet sure what their intensions were, but judging from the last encounter she had with them, she could tell that they were less then desirable folk.

Her pale green eyes glowed as she faded into obscurity. _Yes… she'd be keeping an eye on them…. Soon enough she'd find out what they were really up to. Then she would report back to her master with her findings… but she wouldn't let them touch the girls… she couldn't._

After all, she had failed to keep her own children safe from the encroaching darkness… she could at least try and keep her oldest friend's children safe.

* * *

 **?**

Shadows danced on the walls of the dark, glowing red cave as sinister rotten, green eyes peered through a small portal into the real world.

The window rippled and shimmered like water as the creature's massive lobster-like claw gently touched it, only to withdraw the claw a second later with an irritated hiss, as the area burned bright red for a moment before cooling down again.

The creature scoffed. He still was unable to force himself into the world paralleling his own. He was simply too strong to push himself all the way though the little windows he was able to create to look into their world.

He had been there countless times before – in spirit, and sometimes, though rarely: his physical form as well. He loved the humans that inhabited with physical world, He really did. They were so easy to manipulate after all. He acted as their darkest influences, whispering in their ears, urging them to act on their worst desires, playing with the little bits of darkness that were tucked away in all of their souls, and as He had discovered, some had more than others – those ones were particularly fun to toy with.

Hilariously, people blamed him for all of the darkness in their world, but that simply wasn't the case – he didn't drive them to commit the despicable crimes they did. They did that all on their own – he just whispered a little.

But for all of his many talents, he was still too strong to pass though the gated barriers that separated his domain from the physical world on his own. The only way he could fully visit the other world was if he had help, or was directly summoned by someone powerful enough, and he doubted that there was anyone left alive that knew his name, let alone how to call him. Even then, the amount of time he could stay in their world, all depended on the strength of the summoner, and few lasted more than several minutes at most.

But soon… that would all change.

Soon, he would be free to roam their world and make it his own, just like he had been planning to for centuries. And to think – all he had to do was entertain that poor, deranged lord, and bestow a mere fraction of his power to him – and the monkey was willing to bend over backwards to give him exactly what he wanted – despite knowing the outcome of what would happen to the land as a result.

The demons chuckled, clicking his claws together. He really was a twisted soul, he'd give him that one. He had been in the presence of humans long enough to know that even the vilest of them had some form of conscience when making a deal with the devil, but clearly the monkey lacked that knowledge – that or he just didn't care. A sadistic smirk twisted the demon's lips. He'd have fun tearing out that one's soul and playing with it when the time came. If it wasn't him that did it, it was going to be the "sons" that the monkey had so carefully raised as his own.

 _ **HIS**_ son's rather.

His little wolves had grown up so much over the years, more so in the last few months than ever before. They had finally stepped up and accepted the power that he had wanted to bestow on them for years, but had always declined. Now they were so much more than simple minded Lycan's… now they were something far more… _Grim._

Now they were a real force to be reckoned with. They were finally what they needed to be.

But as for those girls that his little pups were so enamored with… that was a problem, or at least, _one_ of them was.

He hadn't been expecting the dark one to discover their little secret so early in game. It was far too soon. She and her sisters had been meant to find out closer to his coming – when his wolves were fully in control of the land, and had prepared His summoning.

True, He might not be able to go to their world, but he could send his subordinates there in his stead, and they were the perfect ones to do his bidding.

Not to mention being born from his favorite plaything, and having human roots allowed them to stay in the physical world without any consequences, unlike him. They had human forms and his powers – they were the ultimate weapons. They would free him, and they would be rewarded handsomely for their service to him.

And their prize would be the girls they so desperately wanted for reasons that were lost on Him…

He shook his head. He knew they had been infatuated with those girls since the earliest days of their time on Earth, but he could never understand why they were so fascinated with them. He had felt when the girls had freed His pups from their imprisonment – again, much earlier then he had told the monkey to release them – but

But it didn't matter. He was above trivial human emotions anyways. If they wanted them, they could have them, as long as He got what was promised to him, he could care less about a trio of naive, weak females.

The demon sat back in his makeshift throne, and chuckled as he watched the blood red sun slowly rise up over the sleeping town – all blissfully unaware of the horrors that had been discovered the night before. **"Now the REAL fun begins."** The demon cackled gleefully in his two-toned voice, as he rubbed his claws together. **"Oh boy."** He grinned as his eyes glowed a sinister green, making the cave seem much darker than it had been before.

" _ **Oh boooooyyyyyy."**_

* * *

 **Authors Note:** _So I have a few things to announce._

 _Where exactly to begin._

 _Firstly, thank you all so much for patiently waiting for this chapter. It's so late – difficulties with college have been preventing me from finishing it sooner, not to mention some rather personal issues that I had to sort out – but this is one chapter that I've been looking forward to writing since the story's conception back in 2016 if you can believe it! So, I wanted to take my time with this one and make it perfect for all of you lovely people! (Honestly, you guys have no idea how long I've been dying to write this for – it's been sitting in my mind for over a year damn it! So I'm glad it's finally out XD)_

 _Secondly… on a more serious note: it has been recently been brought to my attention that Lycan along with several other stories belonging to writers who I am particularly close to on this forum, were possibly getting plagiarized by another writer on this site._

 _Before I go any farther – let me make it clear that this situation has been dealt with accordingly, and said stories are no longer up as the author has taken them down and apologized to at least one of my writing friends in particular – but I still feel the need to address this in some shape or form because I don't think some people understand the severity of plagiarizing other people's work, without giving them the proper credit._

 _Guys, make no mistake: I am completely flattered if Lycan has inspired you in any shape or form, and has encouraged you to make your own stories – believe me I am – BUT, if it has inspired you to make a story with similar themes and plot – you need to give credit where it's due. Otherwise, it can lead people to believe you've plagiarized the original authors work in some way, and that's not cool. Take Lycan as a prime example: I've drawn inspiration from Red Riding Hood, Van Helsing_ _ **and**_ _The Wolfman (especially The Wolfman) and I make sure to list them at the beginning of each and every chapter, because God forbid someone reads this and thinks to themselves: "SHE'S STOLEN THEMES FROM EVERY HORROR MOVIE KNOWN TO MAN!" and then processeds to get my work removed from this site._

 _Yeah, no – I don't want to deal with that, and something tells me you lovely folk wouldn't want that either._

 _They say imitation is the best form of flattery – I don't believe that. I think it's annoying._

 _I am fully aware that Lycan isn't a published book that you can hold in your hands, but it is still published on a website that specializes in literature – meaning that if you steal parts of it, without citing it or me – you are plagiarizing, plain and simple, and I don't apricate it. and that especially goes for other stories on Fanfiction as well, not just this one._

 _To be fair, I don't like leaving notes like this on my work, and I know I left another serious one on the last chapter too, but I honestly do feel like this needs to be addressed in some degree, because in the real world – plagiarism is something that is taken very seriously – especially in college, and I know people who have gotten kicked out of their respective schools for doing just that – and it doesn't go away either, it's on your school report for the rest of your life. Good luck trying to go back to post-secondary after that._

 _So, I'll say it now, and only once:_ Please do not plagiarize work that is not your own. You **will** get caught, and quite frankly it's annoying.

 _Anyways, moving past that – I want to thank you all again for being so patient while waiting for this chapter to come out – I'm sure some of you thought I had given up on it for sure, but not to worry: I will finish this story, even if it takes me years. XD_

 _Fun fact though, we're a little over half-way done! Lycan has 19 chapters which means we are gradually pushing though it bit by bit, but things are only going to get more intense from here on out! This chapter marks the beginning of the end, and a gradual deteriation for all things that the girls – and even the boys to an extent – hold dear, even if they don't recognize it now._

 _Unfortunately, I can't say when chapter 13 will be done, as I'm heading back to college full-time come January 15_ _th_ _– but I'll do my best to work on it here and there when I have time, and hopefully it will ready for Lycan's second anniversary – so there is unfortunately going to be a bit of a wait again – The amount of stress my college puts me under should be illegal, but alas._

 _To all of my readers who have stuck by me since the very beginning, and to any new ones who have just found this story – You are all amazing. We've created something beautiful here. You are all more than just followers, you are_ _ **THE WOLF PACK.**_ _You are my Wolf Pack, and I love each and every one of you, because I know you've all got my back, and please know that I have yours._

 _Stay amazing my Wolf Pack, and I'll see you all again for chapter 13: Writing on the Wall._

 _Much love,_

 _Miss. RoseGold xoxoxox_


	13. Writing on the Wall

**Lycan**

 **Authors note:** _The rating of this story is a High T for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned._

 _ **Hello everyone! After a long silence and a train wreck of a semester: I am back!**_

 _ **I am more then aware of the fact that I have been exceptionally quiet the past few months due to school and a plethora of other issues outside of that, but I am back for the summer and hope to be a bit more active now that I have some free time on my hands!**_

 _ **Once again, I'd like to apologize and say that I am sorry for the extended wait and thank you all for being patient with me, but without further a due: here is chapter thirteen, and my god is it back with a vengeance…**_

 _ **As always: let's begin.**_

 **Disclaimer:** _Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners._

 _The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages._

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Writing on the Wall**

 _There once was a man._

 _There once was a man who had everything that his heart could possibly desire. He came from a wealthy family, with doting parents that gave him anything he wished for._

 _He was raised with prestige and pose – as his parents were lord and lady of the surrounding lands – and had the best of everything in life. He had a splendid education and the finest tutors that money could buy, and soon proved that he had an intellect that was unmatched by anyone in the surrounding area._

 _Unmatched that is, until he met John Utonium one fateful day._

 _He came from modest beginnings along with his younger brother, but neither could have been anymore different. The younger brother craved adventure, while the older was more of an intlect, much like himself._

 _John Utonium didn't have the luxuries, such as a fine education, that he himself had been blessed with, but he proved that he had a natural affinity for science, and was fascinated with the microscopic world that they couldn't see around them._

 _The two became instant partners and he allowed the lowly scientist full access to his laboratory and library where the two spent countless hours pouring over the information that was accessible to them._

 _But soon, their brilliant minds became tired of the mundane, and so they decided to try something that had never been done by any other before them:_

 _They decided that they would try and see if there was another life after a person died._

 _They would mix science and religion together and solve the worlds most asked question, and go down in history as some of the most brilliant minds in in the world._

 _It had seemed so simple at the time. Together they created a machine that would allow them to tap into higher frequencies that a normal person couldn't hear, and that would hopefully allow them to detect if there was someone… or something that could give them an answer to their question._

 _At first all was well, the machine was working, and both could hear the frequencies. But soon he grew impatient and increased the power to the device, against John's frantic warnings, until the machine combusted – blowing him backwards and filling the room with red tinged smoke and the sound of disembodied laughter._

 _And then in the mist of the red smoke and loud ringing in his ears… he found God._

 _The creature was unlike any he had ever seen before. It was so great, he wasn't sure if he was hallucinating. But when he reached out and touched the creatures claw… it gave him the reassurance that he need that the God – whatever it was – was very much real._

 _The God grinned at him and asked him what he desired most in the world._

 _He thought about it. Power. Power was what he most craved._

 _He told the God this, and the God only grinned wider and told him that He would make him a deal – if he was willing to become a willing vessel to Him, the God would grant him all the power he could possibly want, and eventually make him a king of this world._

 _It only took him a second to agree._

 _And as soon as the God had appeared before him – it vanished._

 _Things were different between him and John after that. John never wanted to speak of the ordeal again, but he… he had gotten a taste of what was awaiting him on the other side and he was addicted. He wanted to see it again._

 _And then he started hearing whispers._

 _At first he thought he was paranoid, and thought he was losing his mind, but the whispers soothed him, told him of things that had not happened yet, and of things that were to come to him. The whispers soon eased his troubled mind, and though he knew that he shouldn't be hearing voices – he knew that it was only the God from the other side speaking to him, and it comforted him knowing he had a being of higher power consulting him._

 _Under the God's tutelage, he began divulging into darker practices that trailed off from the familiar path that science had laid out for him, and down a more forbidden road – one that anyone with any common sense would have stayed clear of. He practiced the new, forbidden arts in secret, without John's knowledge – the man wouldn't understand after all – he hadn't experienced what HE had. He hadn't met the God._

 _The walls of the man's basement were soon filled with hieroglyphics and twisted summoning spells that he had once dismissed as rubbish – only to soon find out that they were much more then they appeared to be at first glance._

 _The first creatures he had been able to call though to the other side were… messy. Glowing blue balls of slime that held no shape what-so-ever, but it hadn't mattered to him. They were real, and he had brought them into existence from a world that was beyond anything that he could ever imagine. He was their master, and they were his servants ready to do his bidding._

 _It hadn't been an easy task, making the creatures a physical body to call their own, but he had managed – digging up the corpses that were long forgotten in the towns cemetery had almost been too easy… it had been scraping the skin off the stiff bodies, and fashioning it into a functional suit for them to wear that had proved to be a bit more of a challenge, but he had done it._

 _After that first successful attempt, he began to research the other side more and more – intent on calling forth a creature so powerful, he would be able to hold the world in his hands – but that power proved to be just beyond his reach. The voices told him to wait. That the time would come, but he would need to be patient._

 _He agreed._

 _But then something happened. Something that none of them expected to happen._

 _The man fell in love. Or perhaps it was lust._

 _The man found himself seduced by the very woman that was the childhood friend of the daughter of the town's Mayor – the very same woman that was now the new wife of his very own lab partner._

 _Sedusa was unlike any woman that he had met before. She was wild and extraordinarily beautiful – a combination that he never thought he would find in a woman. If he looked past the fact that she was a gypsy, she was absolutely perfect._

 _He wasn't the only one who thought so._

 _The whispers told him to make her his wife. That with she by his side, they could rule everything – that she was needed, that she was special. That she would produce powerful sons that would take up the family name, and make him all the more powerful._

 _The whispers had never been wrong before – why would they lead him astray now?_

 _He courted her for a short time before asking her to marry him. The man was slightly surprised – she agreed without much hesitation, but he chose not argue it… after all, everything was working out smoothly for him, just as it always had, and as long as he got his way, he didn't care how it played out._

 _His parents were less then pleased. It was to be expected – she was nothing more than a gypsy commoner, and a stain on their good name._

 _He argued and fought with them – trying to make them see reason – that he had to have her – that without her he was nothing. The whispers told him so after all, and they had never been wrong before._

 _They of course, did not listen and threated to disown him if he went through with the marriage._

 _The whispers didn't like that._

 _They told him that something needed to be done. That his parents were only obstacles standing in the way of his glorious plans of succession. That they would only serve to hinder him._

 _The said that they needed to be taken care of._

 _And at that point – he believed them._

 _His parents were found dead in their bed the next day by their servants._

 _It was his one and only regret in life. But it had to be done._

 _He married Sudusa shortly after – despite her shock and slight protest to the news of his recently deceased parents. It didn't matter to him. They were turning out to be nothing but obstacles in his way anyways – besides, he had the whispers guiding him – the whispers that were growing steadily louder now – and they soothed him. Assured him that what he had done was the right thing to do, and that soon their plan would fall into action._

 _Then he received the news: John and his wife were expecting a baby – three of them, as he later found out._

 _It made him stop and think – he would eventually need an heir, and the whispers, that now sounded more like one solid voice, urged him to produce one._

 _He brought the idea up with his wife, only to face immense disappointment after she fully rejected his proposal._

 _That night as he lay in bed, the voice came back to him, soothing him as it whispered in his ear. It promised him that he would have his strong heir – that his children would be the change that the town and the world needed, and that he would be the father to the most powerful creatures to ever walk the face of the earth – just as it had promised._

 _But at a cost._

 _The voice convinced the man to recreate the experiment that had unleashed him a year earlier, and to let it have his wife – promising him again that he would have the sons that he so desperately wanted._

 _He agreed._

 _He still wasn't sure what exactly happened the night of the new moon when he reenacted his original experiment with John – his mind was clouded, and he was in a daze as he painted odd hieroglyphs onto the walls of his basement – just as the voice commanded – In a red liquid, that he had the feeling was his own blood._

 _The only thing he remembered from that night was the red smoke, and the screams and the horrible laughter that he couldn't get out of his head no matter how much he tried – but when he came to the next morning and saw his wife naked and sobbing in the coroner of the basement – refusing to look at him – he didn't feel anything._

 _They found out she was expecting a month later._

 _It wasn't an easy pregnancy – he had to stop her from tearing open her stomach more times then he could count, and with every month that passed, he watched as his wife's mental state began to slip father and farther away from her, until she was little more than a husk of her former self._

 _And yet he still felt nothing._

 _Nothing but some sort of smug satisfaction as she gave birth to three sons nine months later. She refused to have anything to do with them, but that was alright – they were here, just as the voice had promised they would be, and even as newborn infants, they already radiated some sort of strange power that he had never felt before._

 _The voice came back to him then with a set of instructions: that they were to be kept out of sight until they were older and that he would have to lock them away with the same set of hieroglyphs that he had used to summon HIM in the first place._

 _He didn't quite understand why he had to do what he was asked of, but the voice clearly knew things that he didn't and was never wrong, so he didn't question it – and for the next four years, his basement became his sons prison._

 _Over the years he continued to work along-side John, and watched as his daughters grew along-side him. He tried to get the taller man to help him explore the unknown as they had before, but John would have none of it. He had seen…_ _ **something**_ _in the basement that day – though he refused to say what – and had no desire to see it ever again._

 _Until that one fateful day, that his partner's own daughters ventured into the basement one day when he brought them with him, and had come across his sons… freeing them._

 _He wasn't sure how exactly three four year old girls had managed to release them, but he played it off as best he could – but that didn't stop him from noticing the way John went white as he looked at the three, almost nude boys standing there – and that was when he knew that John was starting to put the pieces together in his head._

 _It was the beginning to the end of their partnership._

 _John had been acting weary around him, he wasn't blind, he could see the shift in his old partner's behavior. He still brought his daughters with him when he came to work at the mansion with him, but he was hesitant to let them play with his sons. He hadn't known how exactly the boys were born, or what strange force had been behind their conception, but he knew that something was off about them. He could sense it and he was frightened._

 _He would have laughed at how timid his partner had become, but he couldn't allow him to find out what had happened. No one could ever know what he had brought into existence, least of all him._

 _Then one day, his most unruly son had let his darker nature get the best of him, and had bitten John's middle daughter hard enough to draw blood, and that was the breaking point._

 _The stressed scientist gathered his family and departed for Citysville, leaving without so much as a word, and throwing him into a foul mood – no one had the smarts of John Utonium for miles, and without him, he couldn't create the experiments that he once could, and he certainly couldn't explore the other side without assistance._

 _He wasn't the only one who left with out a word._

 _Ever since his sons had started roaming the house freely, Sudusa had become even more of a recluse then before, to the point that even he hardly ever saw her. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he could sense that the voice that was in his head seemed to focus more and more on her, but he never bothered with it – she was becoming more of an annoyance to him anyways._

 _One day, he woke up, and she was gone._

 _He felt nothing. He had almost sensed it coming. Where she was, he could only guess, but something deep in him told him that she wasn't of the mortal world anymore. He could hardly bring himself to care – his priority was of his sons – the very boys that were still pining over the disappearance of the Utonium girls that had happened several months earlier._

 _That didn't matter either. Something told him that they would be back. He was almost positive._

 _He raised his sons carefully in the years that followed, keeping them out of the public eye as much as he possible, and squashed as many rumors about them as he could – all the while wondering what it was about them that was so different – what it was exactly that they were, as they looked normal enough._

 _But he knew better – he knew there was much more to them then met the eye._

 _He found out what they were hiding underneath their human skin on the eve of their eleventh birthday – on the night of a particularly bright full moon._

 _And as he watched his pre-pubescents sons get down onto their hands and knees and scream bloody murder as they transformed into creatures that only existed in his nightmares – it was only then that he understood what he had done… what he had unleashed into the mortal world._

 _And he smiled._

 _He smiled as they grew. He smiled as their bloodlust grew out of control. He smiled all throughout all of the carnage, and blood, and misery that happened just outside his window every full moon as he sat in his armchair beside a roaring fire – smiling deliriously as the voice whispered wonderful things into his ear._

 _They still had so much to so. They weren't done yet. Soon he would have it all just as he had always planed… whether this world was ready for his monstrous sons or not._

 _There once was a man…_

 _There once was a man…_

 _There once was a ma-_

 _There once was a_ _ **monster.**_

* * *

 **?**

The girl with the album hair looked around confused.

She was alone, standing in a dark room with some sort of strange red fog swirling around at the edges of her vision.

She wasn't sure where she was, but she wasn't in her room. That much she was sure of. She remembered that she had been in her room reading a book before bed, and she had suddenly found herself here… wherever here was.

Light rose eyes scanned the area, looking for any clues that could tell her were she was, but she found nothing except darkness. The girl rubbed her pale arms with a shiver, before cautiously moving forward into the gloom.

She felt strange. She felt as if she somehow knew where she was, but at the same time, she couldn't tell where exactly _here_ was.

She felt around the walls, looking for a door or a window that she could escape from, but she felt nothing except for smooth, cold stone underneath her fingertips. She coughed and tried to wave the strange red smoke that was obscuring her vison away from her face, but it only seemed to get thicker.

She looked around desperately – trying to find something that would give her a clue about where she was, but she saw nothing except four stone walls… but – she squinted through the fog like smoke. There was something on the walls…

She looked at the wall that she was closest to. Sure enough, more markings were on it – drawn on in some sort of old, brown substance. She had no idea what they were supposed to be. It certainly wasn't anything she had seen before, and just looking at them filled her with a terrible sense of dread. She backed away from the wall – intent on finding a way to escape her stone prison – but as she did that, something strange began to happen.

The strange carvings began to glow an ominous red. They became brighter and brighter, until the searing red light was all she could see, and then the most horrific-sounding laughter that she had ever heard began to echo all around her. Louder and louder. She couldn't see the carvings anymore, all she could see was red, and that horrible, horrible laugh that made her want to claw her ears off-

Blossom woke up with a start.

* * *

 **?**

Butch was locked in a fever dream.

The raven-haired man writhed and twisted as he tried to determine where he was and whether or not he was alive or dead, or possibly somewhere in between.

He wouldn't be surprised if he was floating between both realms of existence – every part of his body was on fire. The pain was excruciating, and he couldn't tell how long he had been trapped in that state. it could have been hours or days, or weeks or possibly months and he wouldn't have known any better. Time, it seemed, had no meaning in this state.

He struggled to recall the events that had led up to this moment. It was hazy and difficult, but he could remember two things for certain. One: Buttercup knew of his darkest and most well-kept secret, and two: he had almost died protecting her.

Ah yes, that was right… the bear… it was dead now… that was its punishment for touching his woman… but it had dished out its own version of assault on him before he had managed to overpower it. But he had won, and she was safe, and that was all that mattered.

There was something else too, something that he couldn't quite remember clearly, but he was almost certain that she had somehow brought him back to his brothers. He wasn't sure how she had managed it, but all he knew was that if she hadn't, there was a good chance he would have really passed on in the cold, unforgiving forest.

A searing pain suddenly burst across his head as a memory from the morning after fought to resurface from the depths of his mind – a memory that he had almost forgotten about due to the amount of pain he had been in at the time, and he struggled to recall what had happened just before he had slipped into his current fevered state.

 _Pain._

 _That was all he could feel and see and think about, as Boomer dragged his practically unconscious body up the grand staircase and onto the second floor of their home, muttering curses under his breath as he kicked the door to his room open and placed him on his large poster bed, before wiping his blood-stained hands off on the rags that served as his pants._

" _Stay there Butch, don't you dare close your eyes – I need to grab the medical kit and stitch you up… you've lost too much blood as it is, your healing factor isn't doing anything to slow the bleeding." His blonde brother snarled as he ran out of the room. He let out a gurgling sound from the back of his throat and coughed up something red and sticky as a fresh wave of pain racked his body._

 _Fuck. So, this was it. This was how he died. By some pissed off bear who should have stayed away from his property._

 _Well. He could think of worse ways to go, but he didn't think that dying would hurt this much. Or suck this much._

 _Come to think of it: he never gave death much thought anyways. Why would he? He was practically immortal… for the most part._

 _He briefly remembered Boomer re-entering the room and the sounds of medical tools being prepped before another person entered the room – shutting the door behind them, and nearly running over to where he was laying._

" _How is he?"_

 _A flash of red. Brick._

" _Not good. The bear fucked him up badly. If_ she _hadn't gotten him back to us when she did I think he'd be dead by now. I don't know how he's still holding on honestly. Sheer dumb luck I guess."_

" _What about our healing factor? Normally it stops bleeding or at least slows it down enough."_

" _If his healing factor is there, then its not working fast enough or he's just taken too much damage for it to work. Regardless, I don't think it would help much at this point – he's lost far too much blood. His wounds are very deep, we need to stitch him up fast if we want to have any hope of saving him."_

 _He didn't remember much after that. All he could feel was agony and all he could see was darkness, which he was fairly certain that meant that his vision had cut out multiple times as his brothers stitched him up._

 _Finally, after what seemed like hours, his vision finally returned to him, though it was hazy and dark around the edges. He remembered two sets of eyes – one cobalt blue and the other blood red – starring at him worriedly._

" _What happened?" His voice was so ragged that he almost didn't recognize it. his brothers looked surprised that he was awake, but after a moment they answered his question._

" _After you took off after Buttercup, you must have gotten attacked by a bear trying to protect her – or at least, that's what I got out of her." Brick muttered as he scanned him up and down. "Buttercup…" he croaked. "Is she-"_

" _She's fine." Brick snapped, interrupting him. "You kept her safe, and for whatever reason, instead of taking off, she brought you back here. But she knows now. She knows what we are. This isn't good."_

" _Where is she?" he rasped as he struggled to get up, only to have Boomer gently push him back down. "I need to speak with her-"_

" _She's not here." Brick rumbled back lowly, trying to calm him down. "I had a little chat with her before I sent her on her way – just to make some things clear to her-"_

" _What did you do?" he snarled weakly as he glared at his ruby orbed brother. "I swear to god if you hurt her I'll-"_

" _I did nothing to her." Brick growled back. "For your peace of mind, I sent her home against my better judgement. It would be pointless to do anything to her now – not after your dumbass nearly got killed for that foolish girl."_

" _What did you tell her?"_

" _For someone near death, you ask a lot of questions." Brick sighed. "I told her that if she tells anyone, I'll make her disappear – same with her sisters. She promised that she wouldn't try anything. Also, as part of our deal, she's at our beck and call… I'm sure you'll take full advantage of that while you recover."_

 _He stood up so that he was towering over him. "Don't ever do that again. The next time you disobey my direct order – I'll leave you for dead. Don't try me." And with that, he stalked out of the room, leaving him and his younger brother behind._

 _Boomer looked at him pityingly – an unfitting look for him, even though he was the most sensitive of the three, which wasn't saying much. "He doesn't mean that. He's just as terrified as I was that you weren't going to make it. You almost died on us twice you know."_

 _He tried to laugh, but it was cut off but the waves of pain emanating from his bandaged torso. "Takes more then that to kill me Boom… I'll be fine." He paused. "Does dad know?"_

" _No, but we're going to have to tell him. We can't hide something of this caliber from him for long and you know it. Snake can never know what happened until you're fully healed. I'll just have to tell him you have the flu or something along those lines… but I'm not looking forward to speaking with dad."_

 _Deep blue irises pierced into him. "I hope you're aware that we've been compromised. You know that right?"_

" _Yes…"_

" _All hell will break loose if she tells a soul, you know that."_

" _Yes… but she won't… I don't think she will… she could have left me there… but she didn't… she'll come back to me… I'll prove it to her… she'll see things from our perspective soon enough… just watch…" The darkness began to overtake his vision again and the last thing he remembered was Boomer calling out his name._

 _Butch…_

 _Butch… Butch…._

"Butch."

Dark green eyes snapped open and the midnight haired man jolted upright and back into reality – only to bite back a scream as searing hot pain coursed through his body from the sudden movement. Groaning in agony, he flopped back down onto his bed on his stomach in exhaustion as he blinked slowly, trying to stop his head from spinning as he took in his surroundings.

He was in his room, still in his bed from where his brothers had left him. Looking down at himself, he could see that pink stained bandages covered the majority of his body. He let out another groan and rubbed at his eyes as he struggled to clear his still bleary vision.

"Butch."

The gravelly voice startled him out of his reprieve, and the forest eyed man glanced over at the side of his bed, only to see his father staring down at him. Butch swallowed painfully as he waited for the smaller man to speak again. He wasn't sure if he was ready for the inevitable conversation that was sure to follow, but in his current shape – he wasn't going anywhere. All he could do was try and explain what happened.

"You are awake finally… I was worried that you would pass on us for a while. You have been unconscious for several days."

It was silent in the room for a few tense minutes as both men stared at each other, unwilling to blink or break eye contact with each other. Finally, Butch twitched involuntarily and coughed, breaking the uneasy silence that had settled over the room.

"I can explain."

"You do not have to. Brick and Boomer told me everything."

"Ah." Butch mumbled lamely, suddenly unable to look his father in the eyes.

"Did you really think you'd be able to hide something like this from me? You can pull the wool over the eyes of that creatin you have wandering the halls of my home, but you cannot fool me boy."

The shorter man wasn't quite yelling, but he might as well have been. Butch glanced down at his mattress and noticed that it was turning pink in some places from the blood leaking out from the numerous bandages covering the majority of his body. Brick and Boomer had done a decent job of stitching him up with all things considered, but he was still in rough shape. The bear had done a number on him – he was still amazed that he hadn't died… and it was all thanks to her...

"So, she knows."

Butch blinked and looked up at his father. "What."

Mojo rolled his eyes. "Do not play coy with me boy. You know what. The Utonium girl. The middle one. I know that she came around here on the night of the moon and saw you three transform. Your bothers also told me that you broke out of the crypt and chased after her… and now here you are."

Mojo scoffed as he looked down at his middle son with a hint of a sneer. "Look at you boy: broken and mangled, and over what? A silly girl, who should have stayed away if she knew what was good for her. She'll have to be punished at some point-"

"Don't you dare." Butch managed to wheeze out as he struggled to push himself up off his stomach and onto his arms. "Touch her, and I'll kill you old man. She's not a threat… Brick said she promised… she won't say anything." He growled threateningly, only for the growl to turn into a groan as his arms gave out from under him, forcing him back down onto the slightly stained mattress.

Mojo snorted as he unfolded his arms, shaking his head in disappointment. "Do you know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of when you and your brothers were first brought into this world: you were nothing but feral little creatures who knew nothing but rage and pain. Seems like you are relieving that now." The shorter man sneered unkindly at the dark-haired man. "You were always the strongest of your bothers boy, it almost pains me to see you in such a pathetic state. Such a waste. All because you supposedly 'love' the Utonium girl. Do you even know what love is boy?"

"Do you?" Butch shot back against his mattress, turning his head so that his eyes locked with the man who claimed to be his father. "Did you actually love mother? Or was she just some play thing to you? A stepping stone on your rise to power?" Though he had asked, he knew that he didn't have to. He already knew the answer.

The sneer fell off Mojo's face at the mention of his former spouse, and an ominous silence filled the room – father and son, locked in a silent battle. Forest green eyes burning into solid black – a representation of their respective souls. Finally, Mojo cleared his throat.

"Do not tell me now that you actually care about her." The small man hummed quietly. "You always said that you and Brick were indifferent about her."

"I don't." Butch growled lowly in the back of his throat. "But she deserved better then what she got. And you know it."

Mojo only stepped back from his son's bed slowly with a small laugh. "Perhaps she did. My beautiful Sedusa, who had all the charms and grace a man could ask for… but married life was never in the cards for me. My only love is of my creations."

"That can be argued." Butch laughed bitterly, only to bite back a wince as his bruised ribs screamed out in protest. The light laughter died on Mojo's lips again and a stern frown replaced it, as he turned on his heel, and strode towards the heavy wooden door that lead into the injured baron's room.

"Perhaps if you obeyed me more, my love for you and your siblings would not be called into question so often." The smaller man responded coldly, only for Butch to let out a sarcastic laugh in response. "Whatever you say old man… you keep telling yourself that horseshit. Maybe if you say it enough, you'll actually start to believe it."

A blank look entered Mojo's eyes and once again the onyx haired Baron of Berserk was reassured that he was not wrong with his assumptions that his supposed 'father-figure' had no other emotions other than arrogance and pride. There was no love between his brothers, himself and him, unlike the façade that they put on for the town. Just master and creation.

It took a while, but finally the blank look left Mojo's eyes and a cold hardness replaced it when the ape-like man's eyes came to rest on him again. "Rest well my son. Soon you will be back to full strength, and when you are, we must complete the final stages of our plan… HE will soon be free, and we will rule… whether you have your precious flower or not."

As the small, harrier man, was about to shut the door completely, he stuck his head back in the room and fixed his son with a stern look. "I was not lying when I said I want that girl punished though. Either you deal with her, or I will. I want her silence garmented."

"I _got it._ " Butch practically roared as he pointed at the door. "Now get _out!_ "

Mojo sensed the spike in the injured werewolf's temper and shut the door without any farther argument, leaving the battered man alone with his thoughts. As the green-eyed man struggled to find a position where he wasn't in agony, his thoughts turned back to what his father – no – _creator,_ had said about Buttercup.

He couldn't let him get to her. By himself, there wasn't much he could do to her… but the man was crafty, and he had… allies… on the other side of reality, and there was no telling what they would do to the dark-haired beauty if they got the chance.

He wouldn't allow her to get hurt or worse: killed. Not while he was alive and breathing. He wouldn't allow her to end up like his mother.

The thought was so repulsive to him, that he quickly forced it out of his mind before it could take root. He shifted against his pillow and shut his dark eyes with a sigh as he slowly felt himself drift off into a dreamless slumber.

They weren't out of the woods yet.

Not by a long shot.

* * *

 **Bellum Manor**

Blossom opened her bloodshot eyes as the faint winter sunlight hit her face with a small groan of protest.

Pushing herself up onto her elbows she let out another groan before collapsing back down onto her bed. She felt horrible. She was normally one of the first people in her family to rise in the morning, but she hadn't slept much last night. Her dreams had been awful, and she already knew instinctively that she had been thrashing in her sleep as she took note of the sheets that were tangled around her.

She rubbed tiredly at her eyes as she tried to remember about what her dreams had been about last night, but the harder she tried to recall them, the farther they seemed to slip from her reach. She sighed, irritated with herself. She might not have been able to remember what they had been about, but she knew that they had terrified her. They had seemed so real, so vivid…

But what had they been about? Why was she still feeling a faint mixture of dread and panic, even when she was awake?

She let out another groan and fought the urge to burry her face in her pillows and try to fall back asleep. But even if she did, what would sleep bring her this time? Suddenly not feeling as tired with that thought bouncing around in her head, she pushed the covers off herself and placed her bare feet on the chilly floor with a shudder. She glanced over at the clock on her bedside table, and her eyes shot open in surprise as she realized that it was already ten in the morning, and that breakfast would be well underway.

Quickly getting dressed, she threw open her bedroom door, only to nearly collide into Nanny in her haste. "Well Good morning Blossom." The older lady chuckled, taking in the red-haired girl's frazzled state. "Looks like someone overslept a little, didn't they?" she teased gently.

"Yes, evidently." Blossom muttered embarrassed as she rubbed at her neck sheepishly. The gray-haired woman frowned suddenly. "My goodness child, did you sleep at all last night? Those bags make you look like someone gave you a black eye."

"Pardon me?" Blossom asked, wide awake. Nanny pointed to a mirror that was hanging up on the wall beside them. "Take a look." The older woman murmured gently, as the younger girl did so, only to groan at her reflection. Sure enough, dark black circles under her eyes suck out like a sore thumb in contrast to the rest of her pale skin, giving her the impression that someone really had given her two black eyes.

"Great." She grumbled. "Just my luck." Nanny shook her head. "Bad dreams, I assume?" she asked. "Yes… But I can't remember what they were about." Blossom admitted. "Well, hopefully you'll have a better sleep tonight." The older woman offered kindly as she patted the ginger haired girl on the shoulder. "I made breakfast, the rest of the family is already down stairs – why don't you go join them?"

Blossom smiled tiredly. "Thank you Nanny I will." Without another word, she headed down the stairs and headed towards the dinning room, where she could hear the muffled voices of her family talking, and the smell of a freshly cooked breakfast wafting from the kitchen. As she entered the kitchen, she was met with her father and sisters looking at her with mixed looks of amusement.

"Well good morning Blossom." John chuckled, as he took in his eldest daughter's slightly disheveled appearance. "Looks like you decided to sleep in – I must admit that I don't think that I've ever seen Buttercup rise earlier then you." He laughed, only for Buttercup to roll her eyes at his comment, as she continued to eat her breakfast. Blossom sent him a smile as she took a seat beside her raven haired sister and reached for a plate, hoping that he wouldn't notice the dark marks underneath her eyes.

"Morning Blossom," Bubbles chirped as she saddled up beside her at the table. "How did you sleep-" she paused mid-sentence as she took note of the dark bags under her eyes. "Not well honestly." Blossom replied truthfully as she rubbed tiredly at her eyes. "I barely slept. I was so restless, I couldn't get comfortable and I had some pretty strange dreams… Or at least… I think I did."

"What were they about?" Bubbles asked. "I… don't remember." Blossom muttered, hiding her face. "They weren't good though. They were so creepy and unsettling… and… I don't know… for some reason they just felt so real…"

"Dreams aren't real. I wouldn't worry about it." Buttercup mumbled callously as she bit into her toast on Blossom's other side. "Dreams cam get pretty weird admittedly, but you'll be fine. At least they can't hurt you."

"Yeah, right." Blossom said unconvincingly as she reached across the table to dish a few strawberries onto her plate. "I know that… but this one felt different. It felt _too_ real, if you know what I mean."

"I guess… only no offence Blossom, but what do you want us to do about them? You had a bad dream, it happens. Hopefully you won't get the same one tonight." Buttercup sighed as she finished off the rest of her toast. Blossom felt her ears turn slightly pink, suddenly feeling foolish. Buttercup was right. She had just had a nightmare of sorts, but that was all it was… a nightmare. Everyone got them from time to time – nothing she could to about it except try to forget that she had one in the first place, and hopefully Buttercup was right, and she wouldn't have another one tonight.

"Good morning everyone, I brought the mail in." Sara entered the room with a flourish of red as she produced a small bundle of mail from underneath her arm. "Ah, wonderful." John beamed up at his wife fondly, "And what exactly do we have in the mail today?"

"Oh, nothing interesting John," Sara replied with a distracted hum, as she flipped through the letters. "Just regular mail, there really isn't anything here-"

Sara paused at the last letter and squinted at the envelope as if it had somehow offended her. Slowly she turned towards Buttercup and extended her arm towards her. "Actually… the last one is for you."

Buttercup frowned and furrowed her brows in confusion. "Me? Who's writing me letters?" she asked as she took the letter from her mother. Her bright lime eyes scanned the address, only for them to widen impossibly a moment later, and the colour in her normally golden-toned face became devoid of any colour as her hands began to lightly shake as she gripped the letter like a vice.

Sara frowned at her middle daughter as Blossom and Bubbles peered over her shoulders to look at the letter. "Do tell me Buttercup – what do the boys from the Jojo house want with you?"

John gagged in the middle of drinking his coffee and forced himself to swallow the suddenly cold and bitter drink as his family watched on in concern. "-what?" he finally choked out. "Come again? the _Jojo's_ asked for you?"

"They ah… they want me to pay a visit." Buttercup mumbled, not bothering to open the envelope to see the message inside. "Or at least, Butch does I guess."

A deadly silence enveloped the table and Blossom risked a look over at her father, only to see that the older man was completely red in the face, from what she could only assume was rage. His grip on his utensils had become so tight that she could see the blue of his veins from how white his knuckles had become.

"No." He murmured so quietly that she almost missed it. "No. Absolutely not."

She saw Buttercup swallow thickly from beside her. "I don't think I really have a choice dad, I think that I need to go there." Her father's eyebrows drew together at her response. "Oh, really now? And what makes you say that?" he questioned her coldly.

"I… can't really say for certain." Her charcoaled haired sister muttered sullenly as she glanced back down at the letter. "I just think that I need to go there."

"Do they want Blossom and I to come as well?" Bubbles asked gently as she pried the letter out of Buttercup's tight grasp to scan it. "No, just me I think." Buttercup said as she took the letter back and crumpled it into a ball. "Why do they only want to see you?" her father asked suddenly, the grip on his fork becoming increasingly tighter, until Blossom could have sworn that she saw it bend from the strain.

"Well I suppose I'm going to have to go over there and find out for myself now, won't I?" Buttercup hissed, and Blossom noticed that it looked as if her middle sister was suddenly trying very hard to keep her composure. The pale skinned girl frowned lightly. _This behavior was odd for Buttercup of all people. Just what was she trying to get at?_ She was so lost in her wonderings, that she almost missed the near-screaming match that had erupted between her father and sister.

"You are most certainly NOT going over there alone Buttercup! I forbid it-"

"NO, DAD PLEASE!" Buttercup shrieked – panic written clear across her features – causing her father and the rest of the table to fall silent from her sudden outburst. Buttercup quickly assessed the rest of her family, before coughing timidly and smoothing out her clothes. "Dad, I'll be alright, just let me handle this." She mumbled softly.

"Handle this? What do you mean 'handle this?' What do they want?" John near growled as his eyes became dark. "Did they do something to you? I swear to god I'm going to go over there with you and find out what the hell it is they want-"

"What I meant was let me see what they want." Buttercup quickly corrected herself as she bit her lip nervously. "I doubt it's anything serious, and besides – they don't want anyone else over there except for me – it won't go over well if you come along with me."

"What makes you say that?" John asked his middle daughter with a sudden sinking feeling in his chest. "You know them better than anyone dad." Buttercup shot back – done with trying to keep her composure. "They're very privet people, and it would be rude and pretty disrespectful to them if you showed up uninvited…"

John huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest – not wanting to let her know that she had him there. He knew that they were extremely privet compared to the rest of the town, but he still wasn't comfortable letting his daughter go over there unchaperoned.

Besides… something wasn't right about that house or the Jojo family themselves… he didn't know what exactly it was, but there was something that didn't sit well with him…

"…I'll only be gone for an hour or two max."

Buttercup was saying to him, looking almost pleading. "Don't worry dad, I'll be back before dark, and you know where I am if I'm late." Blossom watched as her father seemed to deflate right before her eyes as he finally relented. She had to admit that she couldn't necessarily find any flaws in Buttercup's argument though. She was right after all: at the very least, he'd know where she was if anything were to happen. But she was still feeling uncomfortable with the whole exchange between them and couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong, and if the look that Bubbles shot her from beside Buttercup meant anything – then she felt the same way.

"Very well then, I'll get a carriage prepped-" John muttered as he moved to rise from the table.

"No need, I'll just go on horseback." Buttercup responded as she wiped her mouth and rose from the table, tugging at her sister's arms so that they would come with her.

"Buttercup that's improper for a lady of your status." Her mother argued feebly as all three of them rose from the table before their father could recover from the shock of what his second daughter had said.

"Mum, no offence, but when have I ever been proper?" Buttercup retorted with a snort, as she did her best to bit back a grin that was threatening to split across her face in response to the shock that was plastered across both her parents faces. "Besides it's a waste of time if it's just me going. If it were all three of us I would understand, but since I'm the only one going this time around I don't see the point in getting it all set up. It'll be quicker if I go with just one horse." And with that, the ebony haired girl dragged both her sisters out of the room before her parents could get another word in.

Bubbles allowed herself to be pulled along by her older sister, while she could hear Blossom sputtering mumbled words beside her, as she tried to formulate a sentence in response to what was happening.

"So, are you going to tell us what just happened back there?" the ginger haired girl finally managed, only for Buttercup to release her grip on them as they reached the front of the house. Without saying a word, she pulled her coat off the coat rack and bent down to untie her boots beside it, largely ignoring her sister.

"Buttercup." Blossom's clipped tone caused Bubbles to clench her teeth slightly even though it wasn't directed at her. She knew that tone all too well. It was a sign that her normally calm and patient elder sister was starting to become frustrated. It didn't happen often, but when Blossom became truly angry, her normally warm and approachable personality melted away and was replaced by an icy and bitter personality that was unlike her. It was rare, and no one outside their family had seen it, but no one wanted that cold, and surprisingly ruthless side of her to come out. Bubbles knew that while her rose-eyed sister was typically regarded as perfect by many – at the end of the day, she was only human, and had very real human emotions that came along with her.

"Later, I hope… If I can." Buttercup finally responded, not a moment too soon, as Bubbles watched the slight pink flush that was working its way up Blossom's neck, retreat.

"There's something I need to do there. If all goes well, I'll tell you, I promise – but right now, things are up in the air." She sighed as she finished tying her boots and opened the front door, jerking her head out into the cold. "I have to go get a horse tacked up, are you going to come with me?"

"I- Yes, hold on, what do you mean 'up in the air'? Buttercup, what are you talking about?" Blossom groaned as she and Bubbles quickly threw on their coats, not bothering with changing their shoes, and followed Buttercup out to the stables out by the back of the house.

"I just have some… things that I need to talk to him about… clear some things up a bit." Buttercup responded elusively as they walked up the stable's door and opened it – revealing a small, clean building, with a few horses inside – but it didn't go unnoticed by Bubbles that the muscles in her jaw clenched as she said it – a common indicator that she was stressed about something.

"Butch you mean?" Blossom asked. "I'm assuming he's the one that called you?" Buttercup nodded. "Yeah. We have more then a few things to go over… you know, that… proposal or something." She let out a small laugh, but it only put Bubbles more on edge

"Are you sure that's all?"

The question slipped out faster then she could stop it Buttercup closed her eyes and inhaled before exhaling deeply and opening her eyes. "Yes Bubbles, that's all." She said tensely as she ripped open the stall door closest to her and led the horse inside out. "Pass me a saddle and some, reins wont' you?"

Both girls looked around before spotting the requested tack hanging on the opposite wall. Blossom grabbed the reins, while Bubbles grabbed the saddle and passed them to the dark-haired girl, who immediately began to put them on her mount with surprising speed. While she was distracted Bubbles decided to try her luck again and see if she could cox a decent answer out of Buttercup.

"If there's anything else you want to tell us, you don't have to worry about it getting out Butters – mum and papa aren't around, so it can stay between us three-"

"What part about me saying 'that's all', don't you understand?" Buttercup snapped abruptly, rising her head to glare at her golden-haired sister with angry green eyes.

"Alright…" Bubbles said, backing off as Buttercup's temper flared dangerously. "You know that you don't have to shut us out though… right? If there's something else going on, you don't have to hide it from us. We're not your enemy's Buttercup. We love you. We want to help you."

Buttercup was silent as she led the horse out into the cold – sisters trailing close behind – but Bubbles was almost positive that she hear her sister mutter to herself, _"Believe me, if I could tell you I would…"_ Finally, she stopped and jumped up onto her mount, sending a weak smile down at the blue-eyed girl. "I know Bubs. I always know that." She gathered the reins up in her hands and looked off towards the distance. "Right, I don't plan on being there for too long. I should be back before dark. If I'm not, well… you know where to find me." She nodded in the direction of the dreary estate.

Without saying a word, Blossom reached up and grabbed onto Buttercup's arm, preventing the darker sister from leaving. "Buttercup, what do they want with you? What's going on?" the ginger haired girl nearly begged her. Buttercup said nothing as she sent her a mixed look before gently pulling her arm out of her grasp.

"Hopefully I'll be able to tell you when I come back." She murmured. And with that, she took off without another word – heading straight for the Jojo estate, leaving behind her sisters who looked on after her with a feeling of dread both simultaneously building in their stomachs, though neither could say why.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

Buttercup sucked in a shaking breath as her horse slowly approached the massive stone mansion, that seemed to rise out of the hills before her, like a dark, forbidding omen.

She wrapped her cloak tighter around herself as her horse slowly walked up the walk way to the house's front doors and cringed as she passed the intimidating stone wolves that were poised outside of the entrance to the house. Part of her wanted to laugh – not knowing if they had been made intentionally as a foreshadowing warning to what lay within the house itself, or if it was just irony.

 _What lay within…_

The laugh that had been building in her throat died as she stared apprehensively up at the dark stone house. If she didn't know better, she would have said that it looked abandoned. The unkept gardens at the front and out back gave the illusion that no one had lived there for quite some time, but she knew better; she knew that the house was very much alive and had seen it's fair share of dark secrets… much like it's inhabitants.

It was a house of monsters. Both literally and figuratively.

Buttercup led her horse over to a covered closure just off the walkway, used to shield visitor's horses from the elements and took her time tying him up. With a gentle pat and a promise that she wouldn't be too long, she made her way up the icy steps to the old double doors leading into the house. She hesitated before knocking at the door. She didn't know exactly what to expect. She honestly had no idea what they wanted from her but considering how she knew about their… other side, she could assume that nothing good would come of it.

She let out a tiny sigh and lifted the corroded metal door knocker and pounded on the door. No one came. Furrowing her brows and muttering a string of curses as she puller her cloak tighter around her to shield herself from the icy hills wind, she knocked a second time. Again, no one answered her much to her frustration.

"What utter horseshit is this?" Buttercup snapped to herself, as a particularly hard gust of wind nearly blew her back from the doors. "They demand my presence, and when I finally come here no one bothers to answer the bloody door. If they don't answer in thirty seconds, I'm going home before I freeze – 'summons' or not." And she raised the old knocker again irritably.

The massive wooden doors swung open before she could rap on the door for the third time – almost causing her to fall inward from the momentum with a startled yelp. There, standing in the doorway – was Brick – his tall, muscular silhouette was shadowed within the doorframe, making his blood red eyes stand out from the gloom of the house.

He stepped out into the light, allowing the green-eyed girl to catch a glimpse of the deep black bags that contrasted against the red of his eyes and now cropped red hair. He glared down at her coldly before narrowing his eyes at her. "Well, well. You actually came. I'm surprised… we thought that we could have to pay you a personal visit and drag you here… I'm glad that you proved us wrong. That visit wouldn't have been good for anyone."

"Why the hell have you called me here? Do you know the amount of trouble I went though just trying to get here? My father nearly lost his mind, and my sisters are already extremely suspicious enough as it is!" Buttercup hissed, refusing to back down. Werewolf or not, she had the feeling that he wouldn't do anything to her – not while her family knew where she was at least – though she wasn't about to push her luck too far… she didn't want to provoke the already dangerous enough man as it was.

" _I_ didn't call you here, Butch did." Brick corrected her snidely. "I don't particularly care what you went through, a deal is a deal. You promised that you would come when you were called, otherwise I would hate to think about what might happen to that charming little family of yours." The grin on his face was sickening.

Buttercup suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Compared to when she had become reacquainted with him for a second time, his personality had done a complete flip. Gone was the gentlemen he had first presented himself to be – instead, a darker, more sinister and violent personality was starting to shine though. As far as she was concerned, his true colours were on full display.

"Well I'm here aren't I? Now are you going to let me in and see your brother – who I can only assume is on his deathbed – or are you going to stand there like a bump on a log and let me freeze to death out on your front step? If you haven't noticed its cold out here, and I imagine that my dead body wouldn't look too good on your family." She laughed suddenly. "But who are we kidding here? It would just be another body to add to your already obscene kill count as it is."

The sick grin faded off his face and stepped back, allowing her entrance into the home. "Watch how you speak to me little one." He growled softly as she brushed past him to hang her cloak and remove her shoes. "I'm not my brother, and I have no qualms about putting you in your place if you don't show me the proper respect. My brother is in the state he's in _because_ of you – he nearly died trying to save _you._ This is the least you can do, but if you think that I'm going to allow you to disrespect me in my own home-"

"Threaten me all you like, but if you do anything to me now, my family will be the first to know, and yours will be finished – your little secret will be out – and I know for a fact that Blossom will loath you till the day you die." Buttercup responded coolly as she turned to face him. She didn't know were the extra confidence was coming from. Maybe it was because, despite the situation she was thrown into, she knew that she still had a slight advantage. Or maybe it was because despite his less then charismatic nature – he still wasn't the brother she was scared of the most.

No… that award would fall to the aforementioned brother who was probably on his deathbed…

She narrowed her eyes and stared him down – bright lime eyes meeting demonic red. "Now, are you going to tell me where Butch is or not? I just want to go home as soon as possible."

Brick let out an irritated growl, clearly not used to being talked too in such a demanding manner. He jerked his head up the grand marble staircase in front of them. "Second floor. Last door on the left. He'll be in there. Don't bother knocking, just go in. He's expecting you anyway." he growled as he stalked off into the dark hallway leading off to the living room.

"Wait, where is Boomer and Mojo?" Buttercup asked, noting that she hadn't seen a trace of them since she had gotten there, which was unusual. "Oh, they're around." Brick's sarcastic laughter seemed to echo from all around her. "They're just opting to stay out of the way which is the smart thing to do. Have fun Butters and try to remember what I said when you're talking to Butch: it's not wise to disrespect us in our house."

Buttercup stopped her assent up the staircase at his words. Her dark brows knitted themselves together and a fresh wave of anger passed over her. Before she could think better of it she called out into the gloom: "You want resect Brick? It's time you earned it."

Silence answered her, but she was sure that he heard it. Suddenly paranoid that he was going to come running out of the shadows with the intent of murdering her, she lifted her skirts and bounded up the stairs two at a time and booked it down the even darker second-story hallway where the bedrooms were located.

Once she was sure that she was alone, she slowed her pace and cautiously walked down the long, dimly-lit hallway, silently passing the dark wooden doors the lined the hall. At one point she passed a door on the right and swore that she heard Boomer's voice on the other side, silently whispering something to an unknown person, but it fell silent as she passed the door, as if knowing that she was outside of it.

Shuddering slightly, she finally made her way to the last door on the left, and all the confidence that she had while talking to Brick left her as quick as it had come. She dreaded the room, knowing full well what – or rather _who_ – was lying in wait inside.

The very last person that she wanted to see. In fact, she would have been happy if she never saw him again.

Buttercup brushed a stray lock of jet black hair away from her face and steadied herself the best she could. _She was doing this for the safety of her parents and her sisters. That was all. It was all for them. All she had to do was see what he wanted and entertain him for a little while. Besides, it was like she had told Brick earlier: he technically couldn't hurt her while her family knew where she was… not like he'd be able to in his current state anyways… she had seen what that bear had done to him… the fact that he wasn't dead was a miracle in itself._

Buttercup sucked in a shaking breath as she turned down on the door handle and slowly pushed the door open to reveal a dark room with the drapes drawn across all windows except for one in the far corner, allowing a small amount of light into the room, letting her to see the large room was draped in dark green hues as she scanned her surroundings, making the room appear even darker than it already was.

She swallowed as she moved farther into the room, softly shutting the door behind her, feeling her senses kick into overdrive as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings. She was heading straight into the lion's den, and she was the pray.

"Buttercup."

Buttercup bit back a scream as whirled around to face where the deep voice had emanated from. There, standing on the other side of the room in front of a large, canopied bed wearing nothing but an open robe and a pair of underwear, was Butch.

Buttercup fought the urge to run, as she took in the man who she had – up until recently – assumed for dead. The first thing she noticed was that he was standing (a fucking miracle really.) considering that he hadn't been able to stand on his own when she had all but dragged him out of the forest on horseback. The second thing that she noticed was that there was no trace of the battle that he had with the grizzly on his powerful body.

She squinted her lime green irises in disbelieve as she drank in the man's exposed skin. _Nothing. There was no trace of the deep, red, painful gashes that had littered his body from the bear attack. It was almost as if it had never happened in the first place-_

"See something you like?"

The teasing, gravelly voice snapped her out of her trance, and the raven-haired girl locked eyes with the intimidating man before her – only for laughing forest green eyes to bore into the brightest lime.

"In your dreams… Butch… Just surprised"

"Oh?" the titan of a man moved closer to her, and she backed up on instinct – the image of the beast that he was hiding just underneath his skin, burned into her mind's eye – causing a flash of pain to appear in his eyes, before quickly vanishing as fast as it appeared. "What are you surprised about? The fact that I'm still alive?"

"Yes." Buttercup stated bluntly, casing Butch to let out a barking laugh. "Well honestly is the best policy I suppose." He chuckled, only for Buttercup to cross her arms in response. "Funny you should mention that… considering you've been anything _but_ honest with me."

The laughter faded from the man's defined face at her bold statement and he pressed his lips into a straight line. "Right… about everything that's happened in the last while… I suppose that you have some questions about that… don't you?"

"More then you can imagine." Buttercup replied curtly. "Can you please for the love of all that's holy dress yourself? You're indecent." She pointed to the half-dressed man's exposed, yet remarkably scar free chest underneath his bathrobe. Butch smirked playfully at her, and looked like he was about to make a joke, only to catch a glimpse of the less-then-amused look on the girl's face, and quickly thought the better of it.

He cleared his throat and quickly tied the robe around his waist and ran a hand though his jet-black spikes almost sheepishly. "Right, sorry about that." He shot her a sly grin as he looked at her from underneath his eyelashes. "I think you liked it though."

"Shut up. Shut up right now, I swear to god."

"Right, right okay, fine I'll stop now, promise." But he was laughing, barley making an effort to control the sniggering, which only served to infuriate her more.

"Why have you called me here?" Buttercup demanded – not wanting to waste anymore time on senseless flirting with the… the… _creature,_ across from her. Her question caused the smirk to slide off of the man's defined face, only for his mouth to set itself into a firm line.

"To talk."

"Sure it isn't to finish me off?" Buttercup forced out with a strained laugh, as Brick's original warning flashed though her mind, only for Butch to snort. "No. God no, of course not." He grinned slightly. "Why the hell would I kill you when I damn near _died_ for you darlin'? That would be such a waste. I thought you might want some answers. God only knows you must have so many questions-"

"Yeah. I do." Buttercup snapped before she could stop herself. "I've had so many questions for such a long time, and I want some actual answers. So, start talking."

Butch sighed and he rubbed at his eyes tiredly as he gestured to a set of twin velvet chairs that were facing each other in the corner of his room. "Right then, take a seat. We might be here for a while."

Buttercup shot him a weary look but didn't move – her feet rooted to the spot where she was – not wanting to move any closer to him, but not wanting to anger him either. Her hesitation caused Butch to sigh loudly and the tall man moved towards the two chairs on the other side of the room, sitting down in one heavily. He beckoned her over with two fingers and nodded at the unoccupied chair across from him. "Sit."

Buttercup swallowed dryly and took a slow step forward, prompting Butch to let out another loud, exasperated sigh. "Come on Buttercup I won't hurt you. Believe me if I did, I would have done it a long time ago. You don't have to worry about me."

"Your word doesn't mean a whole lot to me right now, I'm sorry to inform you." The lime eyed woman spat venomously, but slowly inched her way over to the vacant chair facing the intimidating man.

"Do you want some answers, or not?"

She sighed. He had her there, if he was fully willing to answer any questions she had, she couldn't pass up the opportunity. She nodded her head hesitantly, and slowly sat down in the chair without taking her eyes off of him. The brooding man waited until she had made herself as comfortable as she could before taking in a deep breath and leveled her with a steady gaze.

"Right then… so… where should I start."

"How about the part where you tell me exactly what the hell you are?" Buttercup hissed venomously as she glared at him. "Why bother asking me that when you already know what I am." Butch challenged. "Go on babe, say it: you know exactly what I am. You're not stupid. I know you're not."

"You're a werewolf." Buttercup bit out as she nervously licked her lips, finding them to be unusually dry from the stress. "There you go. Congratulations spice. You figured out what the rest of this stupid town has been trying to figure out for close to two decades in a matter of a few months." The barrel-chested man clapped sarcastically without taking his eyes off the girl in front of him. "Though I will admit, you found out about our little secret far earlier then when we wanted to tell you… you really should have listened and stayed away-"

"Like you were going to tell me that you're a monster." Buttercup laughed bitterly. "You've lied to me about everything else up until this point – why bother telling me what you really are."

"No really, my brothers and I had it all planned out." Butch argued. "We were originally going to tell you and your sisters after your birthday – which if I am not mistaken is at the beginning of April, is it not?"

"Shut up." Buttercup snarled. "To hell with our birthday – why bother telling us anything? What difference would it have made?"

"A world of difference, believe me." Butch sighed. "But you just had to get curious. Didn't you?" He winked his nose. "Also, watch how you talk to me babe. I'm being nice and trying to answer your questions, even though I know Brick doesn't approve, nor does he want me to tell you anything yet. You can try being a little bit nicer."

"Don't call me that." Buttercup hissed. "I'm not your anything. I want nothing to do with you. The only reason why I'm here is because Brick threated my family, and I don't want any of you near them. So, I'm here… entertaining you."

"Oh that…" Butch grinned slowly. "I would like to argue. On the contrary, you're _everything_ to me, but we'll get to that in a moment."

Buttercup froze. "What-"

"I'm assuming your sisters and rest of your family don't know about my brothers and my… _condition_."

Buttercup bit down on her lip. "No, but-"

"Good. Sorry Sunshine, but you're going to have to keep that to yourself for a little while longer. Don't worry though," he added as he saw Buttercup open her mouth in protest. "My brothers will tell them soon – and that's a promise – but it has to be from them and on their own terms. Believe me when I say that just you knowing out secret is dangerous enough as it is. You would not believe what I'm doing just to keep you safe… I have to convince… certain people, that you're not a threat, and that you'll keep quiet. It's the only reason your still safe."

"Why am I in danger? And who do you have to convince-"

Butch only shook his head. "It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that so long as you tell no one else about this-" he gestured to himself, "you'll be safe. Your sisters and the rest of your family too."

Buttercup sent him an unconvinced look, prompting Butch to sigh. "I swear to you. For real this time. I promise that you'll be alright as long as you keep your silence." He nodded at her. "Now, a promise is a promise: you can ask me anything else you'd like. Go on." He prompted her gently. Buttercup sighed in aggravation, wanting to prob the subject more, but the look on Butch's face told her that he wasn't going to budge, not to mention that the temptation of finally finding out his most well-kept secrets was too great of an opportunity to pass up.

The obsidian haired woman fell silent as she tried to sort through the plethora of questions that were swirling though her head – trying to pick the most important ones of all. Finally, she looked up at him with hooded eyes – taking in his seemingly healed form and decided to ask the question that had been nagging at her since she had stepped foot into his room.

"How in Gods name are you alive right now?" Buttercup finally whispered. "I saw what that bear did to you… I know the extent of the damage it inflicted, and I know that you shouldn't be here right now. There's no way a normal man would have survived. "

"Well thankfully I'm not a normal man then." Butch grinned weakly. "There are certain… perks, to being what I am. I'm not entirely human after all, and therefore I heal much faster than one."

"I remember that Boomer mentioned something about a healing factor when I gave you back to them?" Buttercup asked, causing Butch to nod. "It's what allows us to heal at such a rapid pace. Now of course it varies on the amount of damage we've taken on, but we can heal within a matter of seconds at our fastest, and a couple of days at our slowest. It's what kept me alive honestly." He explained as he leaned forward in his chair and opened his robe, exposing his muscular chest to her.

"Look." He murmured as he pointed out the long, white gashes that criss-crossed over the expanse of his skin. "This was all healed over after about a week. It would have healed faster, but as you know, I lost far too much blood for it to work properly – it threw mw into a wicked fever dream for the first few days while I recovered. The scars will be most likely permanent, but it's better than being dead."

He looked up at her solemnly. "You could have left me there you know."

Buttercup frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Back in the woods. You could have left me there. You didn't have to bring me back." Butch clarified quietly. "If you hadn't brought me back I would have died for sure. You saved me." He paused. "You know, for someone who claims to hate me and everything that I've done, you could have left me to die. So why didn't you?"

"Oh, believe me I wanted to." Buttercup muttered as she averted her eyes away from the man in front of her. "But I already told Brick why I didn't: I didn't want to stoop to your level and become a monster like you." She stated coldly – ignoring the spasm that ran though Butch at her harsh words "I want you and your brothers to face justice for everything that you've done, and leaving you to die in the snow is not the way to do it."

Butch smirked. "You're cute Sunshine. Such a rightchous girl, even when given the opportunity to finish the big, bad wolf off, you still couldn't do it – I think you secretly like me."

"Don't make me regret bringing you back here even more then I already do."

Butch only smirked sarcastically as he watched the lean woman across from him fidget uncomfortably in the plush chair. "Well? Come on now Butters, that can't be all the questions you have. You've been pushing so hard for answers, and to learn all you can about us, and yet when confronted with the opportunity to ask me anything you want, you're silent."

"This is… a lot to take in." Buttercup snapped as she rubbed at her temples. "Alright fine, I've got one: How did you turn into… _that_. Have you always been one or did you… you know-"

"That." Butch interrupted slowly, being mindful to pick his words carefully. "Is a long story."

"You said you'd answer my questions and I'm holding you to that, so answer them." Buttercup growled as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm in no rush, and I'm very curious as to how this all began."

Butch sighed and leaned back slowly in his chair as he tried to think of a way that he could explain what he was without letting her know the whole story. He couldn't let her know that he and his brothers were demon spawn and not even of their world. He couldn't let her know of their true purpose… not yet… not just yet.

"The truth, Buttercup, is that we were born like this." He finally got out. That wasn't a complete lie. They always had been – but there were more levels to them then she realized. Levels that he hoped that she would never see, and never would so long as he could help it.

"Werewolves aren't created much like most legends would suggest. If you haven't noticed: literally no one can survive an attack. No… we're born." He paused, looking up at the girl with dark eyes. "I guess you could say that it runs in my family… my condition is hereditary, if you will. It can skip generations, but its in my bloodline… it's something that we inherited off our mother's side, I suppose you could say."

"So… it's a family curse of sorts… is that what you're telling me?" Buttercup finally asked, and it took everything Butch had not to laugh.

 _No Buttercup. Truthfully, Mojo isn't even our real father. Our actual sire is none other then the fucking devil himself, who stole our mother – and god only knows where they are, or what He's doing to her. Not only that but we're not even complete Werewolves anymore… we're something much worse. We might as well be the incarnates of death and you don't even know it._ Butch thought bitterly. He didn't want to lie to her, already knowing that it would have serious back-lash when she found out what they were really created for, but he couldn't afford to tell her just yet.

"You could say that yes." He managed to get out. "So even when we were kids… you were… those things-" Buttercup muttered.

"Yes and no. Technically we've always been what we are, and we've known that since we were first born, but my brothers and I didn't actually undergo our first real transformation until we were about eleven."

That got Buttercup's attention. "Eleven years old? Why?"

"Not sure, I'm assuming that it had something to do with us undergoing puberty, and that it provoked the change somehow, but it's just a theory, there is no actual explanation for it." Butch shrugged unbothered. "and that's when all the killings started, isn't it?." Buttercup breathed out, suddenly feeling sick. "You three killed so many people over the years-"

"The beast can be unpredictable and violent granted, but the human side of us can be reasoned with, you know that." Butch hummed quietly. "We didn't always go out on a rampage every full moon you know. In fact, we were locked up for the first couple of years when we first underwent the change in our makeshift cell in the crypt every full moon." He gestured behind him towards the bedroom windows that overlooked the backyards to where the crypt was located.

"Then what changed? Why did you suddenly start slaughtering innocent people? I don't understand." Buttercup could feel the blood rushing to her face and her vision started to blur with rage. How could he look her dead in the eye and tell her all of this without having the decency to look remotely ashamed. He really was a monster. A monster in the guise of a handsome man…

"You don't understand." Butch muttered. "When we're like that… our minds go to a… simpler state. We don't think or feel the same way like when we're human. We feel senses. We can see emotions. Those first years – being locked up like that during the moon – they were hell. All we wanted to do was run… and hunt… but when you deny a creature of that kind of power that freedom… the results are… destructive."

He sighed. "I don't suppose you'd care, but I actually left Townsville for a year when I was sixteen because I couldn't stand it anymore. I was going stir-crazy and yes – I did need to quench a certain blood thirst that I had… that's actually how I met Ace."

He shook his head before Buttercup could ask. "Regardless. That was when we couldn't make it to the crypt anymore, and that's when the bulk of the killing started. To be fair-" he added on quickly, noticing a fresh wave of rage pass over the exotic-looking woman across from him. "We didn't know who we were attacking when we transformed. They were just faceless blurs to us. We never purposely targeted anyone. It was typically anyone who we came across at night during the full moon if that makes you feel any better." He paused as he scratched at his chin. "Actually, I take that back. We did purposely go after Lumpkins. That maniac was getting a little too trigger happy for our comfort."

"That doesn't justify any of this!" Buttercup cried. "You're not helping to convince me to feel any kind of empathy for you, or your brother, or even your father for that matter! You and your brothers killed my Uncle and my Grandfather! All within the span of a month!"

"And I am extremely sorry for that." Butch groaned. "We all are. You have to believe me when I say that. We never meant to go after them. It was just a horrible coincidence. One that we regret very much, I swear. We would never do anything to hurt you three purposely… you mean the world to us."

"You have an interesting way of showing it!" Buttercup gasped. "What the hell do you mean by that? What is it that you want from me and my sisters?!"

"For you to come home!" Butch almost roared, causing Buttercup to fall silent and stare up at him in shock. "For you to be ours like you once were."

A frosty silent enveloped the room as both obsidian haired people stared each other down. One trying to make sense of the madness that was presenting itself to her, and the other with slightly darker intentions then she was aware of.

Buttercup finally swallowed in a pathetic attempt to wet her suddenly dry throat and mouth. "Come again?" she coughed, causing Butch to shake his head. "Come now Buttercup, it can't be that hard to see that we want you… Brick asked for Blossom's hand and I did the same for you… as for Boomer, he's a little on the slow side but-"

"Never." Buttercup snarled as she pushed herself back as far as she could go in her chair, trying to put as much space as she could between them. "I will _never_ agree to marry you. Never in a million years, you're insane if you think I will after all of this, and I'll make sure my sisters won't either."

"I think you might change your mind." Butch muttered coldly as his eyes slowly began to turn darker as he drank in the slight of the girl in front of him. Buttercup shuddered as the oh-so familiar forest coloured irises suddenly took on an animalistic look in the room's low lighting. "If you haven't noticed by now – the beast will never harm you. You're the only person that it – or rather I, would never dream of touching."

"…Why." Buttercup finally asked against her better judgment. "You had the opportunity to kill is in the forest that one night… but you didn't… you stalked us – hunted us – but you let us go… well, not before I guess your brothers took a nice chunk out of my sisters…" she muttered the last part as she rubbed at her bitten arm that for some reason was starting to sting.

"I think you know why… or at least you can figure it out. What do animals do to mark their territory?" Butch grinned darkly at her, the low lighting in the room making his white teeth look sharper and more canine against the surrounding darkness.

His words slowly sank into Buttercup's brain and the old bite mark from when they were children began to sing in pain, and she covered it with her free hand without breaking eye contact with the beast of a man with haunting green eyes that seemed to glow brighter and brighter with each passing second.

Suddenly, the old rhyme that Bubbles had found in the story book came back to her just then:

 _When the wolf has met his match, a bite he will bestow,_

 _A mark that joins him and his intended together_

 _Far beyond this life and the world below._

 _It binds her as his, forever and always_

 _As the one who is most loved and trusted._

 _And the beast will remain by the side_

 _of the one he has chosen for a bride"_

"No…" she murmured softly. "No you didn't… you… you just said that you didn't transform until you were eleven… there's no way you could have… have… _done that_ to me."

"Like I said Sunshine: we've always been this. It doesn't matter whether we transformed or not. The beast is in our blood, our genes… it's a part of our very essence… and we have certain…" he ginned savagely. " _instincts_ that we indulge in from time to time… if you know what I mean…"

"Then how come we didn't transform?" Buttercup hissed as she clutched at her arm. "Why? Explain that to me?!"

Butch rolled his eyes and leaned across and grabbed at her arm, making her thrash in his grip. He had an abnormal amount of strength for someone who was recovering from getting mauled from a bear – monster or not – but he only tugged harder and pulled up her sleeve, exposing the faded bite marks on her forearm. He traced the tiny marks, almost as if in a trance. "My kind isn't made… we're born. I wasn't lying when I said that. You won't transform from this, the legends about my kind have it all wrong. _This-_ " he pointed to the marks. " _This_ is a marker. It binds you to me. It lets other know that you're _mine_."

Buttercup savagely ripped her arm out of his hold, and pushed her chair backwards and away from him. "I AM NOT YOURS-"

"You _freed me._ You released me from my own personal hell – the very moment you did that, I saw you as mine. I marked you early, and I still see you as mine, and I will do anything to keep you by my side, especially now, with so much on the line. Nothing has changed Buttercup. NOTHING."

Buttercup froze, shell-shocked at his insane words. _What was he talking about?_ Freed him? She couldn't remember ever _freeing_ him from anywhere. If she didn't think that he was demented enough before, she certainly did now.

"What the hell are you talking about…" She whispered. "I never freed you… I-I don't know what you're talking about. Why must you always make things so complicated for me and my family?"

"Don't you remember how we met?" Butch asked her calmly, calm forest green meeting terrified lime green. "No." Buttercup mumbled. "I don't remember that far back. How can you expect me to? We were just children-"

"I remember how we met." Butch interrupted calmly, dark eyes gently sweeping over her lean build. "How could I possibly forget you? The day we met was the day my life – and my brothers – _truly_ began. The moment I saw you, changed me. You gave my life a purpose, and my brothers would say the same thing about your sisters."

"You're mad." Buttercup muttered. "I don't understand, what did we do? You keep teasing me and saying that you'll tell me, so now I want an answer – a REAL answer – not the half-assed, cryptic nonsense that you've been feeding me and my sisters for the last several months." Butch only chuckled deep in the back of his throat and shook his head at the young woman's spunk, as he leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head lazily.

"Mojo is not a good father." He stared off slowly, not looking at anything in particular. "He locked us away and kept us hidden from the world-"

"I can understand why."

Butch glowered at the dark-haired woman before continuing on. "He had us imprisoned for years. Even as new-born's. The basement below was all we knew for the longest time… that is… until three little girls accidently stumbled into the caller one fateful day." He tilted his head up and gazed directly into her soul. "I think you can guess who they were."

Buttercup shuddered. "But I still don't understand. Why did Mojo keep you locked up as infants? That makes no since… unless…" she clenched her hands into fists. "…Unless he knew about what you were from the get-go… didn't he?"

"He… had an idea." Butch replied slowly. He had to be carful about what he said next. He would allow her some rope, and tell her parts of the truth, but he had no intention of telling her that he and his brothers were the spawn of… no… she would find out later… but not now… not when they were so close.

"Like I said earlier, it's a curse that runs in our mother's side of the family, and my father was… aware of that when he married her. It's very rare, and it only happens once every some odd years, but Mojo wanted to be safe rather than sorry." The onyx haired man finally got out after a brief pause. _There, that sounded convincing enough. Now he just had to sell it to her for the time being…_

"and your mother was fine with her children being locked up?"

Butch snorted bitterly. "Yes, if you can believe it. She would have rather us be locked up then have to look at us." He glanced up at her darkly. "We weren't lying when we said that she had her own demons to face. We drove her mad after we were born, I don't know how else to explain it. She couldn't stand the thought of her sons being monster's, so she had us locked away… but it still didn't help her. She left the house some years later, and she never came back."

Buttercup was silent as she allowed the information to soak in. "So that's why she left." She finally mumbled. "So many people have been saying different things, but no one could tell me the real reason why she left… I guess that makes sense…"

"No one from town knows the real reason why she left for obvious reasons." Butch scoffed. "We let them talk, annoying as it may be – it's almost amusing really, to hear some of the wild shit they come up with."

"So then how do my sister's and I fall into this?" Buttercup ventured cautiously, causing Butch to nod and wave his hand. "I'm getting to that, I just needed you to understand that part before I tell you the circumstances about how we met. It's all relevant I promise, I'll give you the answers you want."

Buttercup sat back in her plush arm chair and folded her arms across her chest. "So, go on then. Enlighten me. Since you're being so cooperative at the moment."

"Remember how I said that we have some animalistic tendencies? Well we had them even as young children. You and your sisters feed us from… the cage… where we were locked up, since we couldn't let ourselves out-"

Buttercup drowned him out for a moment as she racked through her blurry childhood memories – trying to remember when she and her sisters had done this. The harder she tried to focus on it, the more elusive it seemed however. All she could remember was cold, damp stone walls, red, blue and green eyes, and a strange red glow that seemed to surround them, but she couldn't tell where it was emanating from.

She felt a peculiar sensation of dread wash over her at the thought. there was something about the basement beneath her feet, several floors below her that put her on edge. Something strange, something dangerous, and yet, something strangely familiar as well, but she couldn't place what it was…

"-and then I saw you." He looked up at her, and she watched as the jaded green of his eyes softened as they took in her lean frame.

"I imprinted on you."

"Oh god-"

"Not like that." Butch scoffed as he brushed off her disgusted look. "It doesn't always mean _that_ – animals imprint on each other all the time – it's a way for them to identify family or other important members of their pack. I'm not stupid you know." He snickered as he looked at her baffled (and slightly impressed) expression. "I am well educated, believe it or not, as with my brothers – Mojo didn't spare any expense on our education. I would have thought that your father would have done the same, seeing how he's a scientist and all."

"I never paid attention." Buttercup muttered as she cast her eyes downwards. "Why did you imprint on me of all people?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Butch asked softly. "You were the first person I ever came into contact with outside the family. The first _real_ human connection that I ever had. I guess you could say that I was enchanted, even as a kid." He looked up at her with the softest smirk that she had ever seen on him. "You had that kind of effect on me since day one, that was when I decided that I wanted you to be a part of my life, and that I wanted to know everything about you."

"By the way…" He looked at her curiously. Isn't your birthday in April? I recall it was in spring at some point, and it is the start of April in a few days-"

"Don't change the subject." Snapped the lime-eyed woman. "It doesn't matter when it is, it's completely irrelevant to our discussion."

"Alright so it is in April, good to know. The boys and I will have to do something fantastic to celebrate it then." He shot her a wicked grin, that only stretched farther across his face as he watched her face became void of any colour. "I didn't say anything!"

"You didn't have to; your expression says it all." The taller man teased.

"You've all done enough! Don't do anything more!" she hissed dangerously. "Otherwise I'll let it slip that the Jojo boys have a few _animalistic_ traits that they aren't letting on."

At the mention of the threat, Butch's face went blank and a void look entered his eyes. Buttercup faltered at the sudden change – instantly regretting what she said. Butch leaned forward in his chair and Buttercup fought the urge to shrink into herself. He hadn't moved to get up, but the dynamic between them had rapidly changed from two people talking as equals, to that of a predator and prey vibe… and she was once again the pray.

"Trust me when I say, that you _really_ don't want to do that." He murmured lowly. "I can imagine that Brick already told you about what we are capable of, and what the consequences will be, should you talk – and as much as I like you, Sunshine – I won't be able to protect you from the rest of my family if they find out someone said something about our… condition. We have a knack for making people vanish without a trace… just remember that before you go starting something that you _can't_ finish."

Buttercup's nerves snapped as Butch made a movement to get up. Quick as lightning she bolted up out of her chair and spun around it – using it as a barrier between him and her, knowing full well that it wouldn't help her if he really wanted to hurt her. Butch snorted humorously at her feeble attempt to get away from him.

"Please don't hurt my family." She finally croaked. "I don't even care what you do to me anymore. I promise I won't say anything… Just don't hurt my sisters. Call your brothers off – just don't touch them…"

"Keep your word and I can promise _you_ that we won't have a problem." Butch rumbled lowly, but his eyes still hadn't lost their blank expression. "My brothers plan on telling them anyways, so they won't be in the dark for much longer, but you have to let them do it on their own time. _Do not say anything."_ He growled as he leered at her. Buttercup opened her mouth to retort but thought the better of it and shut it again, nodding tensely.

"Good." Butch rumbled as he stood up, wincing slightly as he placed a hand on his still healing ribs. It didn't go unnoticed by his female counterpart as she slowly moved towards the door. "So that's it then? Can I leave now? Or do you have other things you need to discuss with me?"

The dark-haired man sighed tiredly. "No, I suppose that's all. You can go now if you'd like." Buttercup breathed an audible sigh of relief as she moved over to the door. "Wonderful, I'll see myself out then." She muttered as she placed her hand on the doorknob – intent of getting out of the mansion and away from the cursed family as fast as humanly possible.

"Buttercup." Butch rumbled lowly behind her, making the lean woman stop in her tracks and turn around – only for her eyes to widen impossibly as she realized that he was standing directly behind her, even though she hadn't seen him move – forest eyes, so dark they were almost black, boring into bright green, staring directly into the depths of her soul.

Those same black eyes held no emotion in them as he peered down at her, and with the same blank expression on his face, he raised one of his large hands up to her face, only to cup her cheek and gently rub it with his thumb, despite her shock.

"Happy Birthday."

* * *

 **Bellum Manor**

Buttercup pushed her horse into a full sprint as it charged into the manor's property.

She couldn't think straight. She could barely see straight. She felt nauseous – sick to her stomach, as the conversation that she had with Butch played in her head, over and over again.

The horse slowed as it approached the small stable on the property, and Buttercup slowly slid off – still stunned – and brought it into it's stall. She didn't bother untacking her mount, opting to leave it for one of the few stable hands to do later – as she slowly made her way up towards the manor.

She wasn't looking forward to going inside. Going inside meant that Blossom and Bubbles were waiting for her – eager to find out about her trip and wanting the answers that she had promised to give them. That was fair, but after the conversation she had with Butch, and the poorly concealed threats he had made against her family – she wasn't about to test the waters by spilling his secrets – no matter how badly she wanted too.

Maybe if she was lucky, she could make it to her room before either of her sisters cornered her, but that was unlikely.

She slowly pushed open the door and stuck her head inside. Not seeing anyone she quietly slipped inside, hanging her coats and removing her boots, before slinking up the marble staircase in front of her. She had made it up the sixth step before a high, clear voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Buttercup?"

 _Shit, Bubbles. There goes trying to be quiet._

Buttercup grinned weakly down at her baby sister. "Hey Bubs." Her voice sounded scratchy and unfamiliar to her ears, as she tried to prevent herself from cracking under the strain of keeping it together.

Judging by the look on Bubbles face – it hadn't worked.

"Bloss and I have been waiting for you…" the blue-eyed girl began cautiously. "We were starting to get worried. You've been gone for a while, and we were wondering what was happening on your end." She rose a perfectly arched brow and Buttercup swallowed. "Nothing happened that you needed to worry about. I was just running a bit late is all." She murmured softly.

"Bubbles? Is that Buttercup? Is she back?"

Buttercup gripped the banister so hard that her knuckles turned white as Blossom appeared behind Bubbles. "Buttercup, there you are – what happened? Is everything alright?" she asked as she took in her sister's face.

"Fine, Bloss, everything's fine." Buttercup spoke through gritted teeth. "Just tired is all." Blossom cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at her middle sister. "It doesn't look like nothing… are you sure there isn't something you want to discuss with us?" her tone was implying, and it took everything Buttercup had not to completely brush her older sister off.

"No… not really. Nothing of substance happened. Butch was just spouting random nonsense as usual. Honestly I don't know why I went-"

"You're lying."

"Buttercup froze as Bubbles icy tone cut through the air. "You're lying Buttercup, I can see it in your face. Something happened. Why won't you tell us what it is? You promised you'd tell us what happened." The younger girl started up the stairs followed closely by Blossom. "Buttercup, what happened? Why are you trying to hide this from us?"

"I'm not trying to hide anything Bubbles, believe me on that." Buttercup protested as she made her way up to the second floor and attempted to make it to her bedroom. "Then why won't you tell us what happened Buttercup?" Blossom questioned as she followed her. "When did we start keeping secrets from each other?"

"It's not a matter of I won't. it's a matter of I _can't."_ Buttercup snarled as she reached her room, pivoting on her heel so fast, that she caused her sisters to back up and fall silent. "Don't you understand?! If I tell you what I was told, it would only put the both of you… and this family in danger. I want to tell you what happened, I do – really I do, but I can't-"

"Buttercup, a word?"

Buttercup flinched slightly as her father suddenly appeared behind her sisters. Blossom nodded and stepped aside along with Bubbles, but John only shook his head. "Alone, please." Buttercup's heart sank at the tone of his voice. There was no way. There was just no way that she could inform her father of the situation at hand, or about what had happened at the estate. If she couldn't even tell her sisters, there was no possible way she could tell him. Even if he decided to punish her, she couldn't tell him about the boy's true nature. It would throw them in into even more peril.

Besides, if anything Butch had told her earlier was to be believed (and she did believe him.) – he hadn't been entirely honest with them either.

John was silent for a while as he regarded his daughter, seemingly unsure of how to approach the unspoken subject. Buttercup waited in silence for him to start to pressure her into giving him the answers that she just couldn't say – but it never came. Instead, John exhaled loudly, finally causing Buttercup to look up at her father.

"Buttercup… be very careful when dealing with the Jojo's." John murmured – not breaking eye contact with her. "You have no idea what they're capable of."

Buttercup was deadly silent for a moment as she tried to think about what to say in response to her father's poorly disguised warning. She wanted desperately to tell him everything in that moment – to validate his theories, to take her and her sister's away from all of the madness that still didn't seem real… but… She couldn't. she couldn't risk Butch or his brothers finding out that she had told their secret. She didn't know what they would do to her father or her sisters, but she didn't want to think about it.

She was silent for a moment as she pondered over his words, until she raised her head and looked her father directly in the eye.

"Actually dad… I think I do."

Before John could get another word in, Buttercup turned on her heel and shut the door to her bedroom behind her with a _bang._ Shutting out her father, and shutting out the world, that was slowly going mad.

* * *

 **Jojo Estate**

Late into the evening the three brothers were sitting in the luxurious sitting room around a roaring fire as the overcast sky outside darkened around them. Neither of the three were speaking to each other, as they were wrapped up in their own thoughts about the days earlier events. Boomer had opted to stay clear of the rest of his family while Buttercup had been over – not wanting to get caught in the unavoidable cross-fire that he knew would take place. He wasn't sure what had been said between her and Butch, but he had over-heard the less then friendly conversation that had taken place between her and Brick, as their voices had carried upstairs to his room where he had been holed up for the day.

He had to smirk inwardly as he cast a look over at Brick who still had a bitter scowl plastered across his face that hadn't changed from when the middle Utonium sister had railed on him earlier. He had to hand it to her: the girl had guts. Even though she knew their secret and was more than likely terrified of them – she still had enough sass in her to stand up to his eldest brother and put him in his place.

Hell, even _he_ didn't have that much confidence. He had to respect her for that. (Though he would never admit that to Brick without running the risk of getting disemboweled.)

He glanced over to his left where his middle brother was brooding next to him, not bothering to look up from the blazing fire in front of him. Butch had finally come downstairs after Buttercup had left for the first time in close to two weeks since he had gotten mauled by the bear but had been unnaturally silent the entire time – clearly not willing to discuss what had happed between them.

He still was wrapped up in his bathrobe – he hadn't bothered to get dressed into actual clothes – as his movements were still very stiff – almost as if someone had stuck straight metal poles through his arms, legs and spine. The healing factor had done its job, but all three boys knew that it would still be a while before Butch was back in top shape.

Boomer sighed quietly as he rested his head in the palm of his hand. More then anything, he wanted to know what had happened between his brother and Buttercup – and even though he hadn't said anything – Boomer could tell that Brick wanted to know too, as he kept looking up with one brow raised at their dark-haired brother every few seconds, before going back to watching the fire burn brightly.

Butch, on the other hand, seemed more inclined to tear both of their arms off then answer their questions, and Boomer had taken it as an indicator that things hadn't gone over as well as his green-eyed brother had hoped they would.

Boomer didn't know what had been said between them, but whatever it was, it clearly hadn't been good. He knew the only way that he and Brick were going to find out anything was if Butch told them himself but judging by the less then pleasant mood the angsty man was currently in – the blonde knew it would probably be a while before he said anything.

"Well holy shit look who's finally up."

All three boys had to stop themselves from groaning audibly as the doors leading into the sitting room flew open with a bang. None of them had to turn around to acknowledge the speaker. The nasally Italian and New Yorker accent mix let them know that Ace had entered the room, much to their displeasure.

"It's only been about what? A week since you finally left your room? That must have been a hell of a fever you had going on boss. Too bad it didn't do you in."

"Hey, was that exotic looking girl over here earlier? What was her name again…? You know, the one named after a flower and who has the two sisters? Dark hair, prettiest green eyes I've ever seen-"

"Yes. I've told you before: Don't even look at her. She's mine." Butch growled lowly from his spot beside Boomer, not even bothering to

"Really? What did she want? Isn't she always with those sisters of hers?" Ace asked with a small smirk as he saddled closer to the three brothers, and Boomer bit back a groan, silently willing the lanky man to stop talking. Ace was pushing his luck, prodding Butch like he was, and he knew it. It wasn't wise for him of all people to talk about Buttercup to his older brother. Even if Butch still wasn't back to his full strength, he had no doubt in his mind that he would be more then capable of snapping Ace's neck if provoked.

But then again, he wanted to do that anyways, and he was pretty sure that his older brother was more or less looking for an excuse to do it at this point.

"None of your damn business. What she does here doesn't involve you. I thought I told you multiple times that you're to stay away from her and not to interact with her?" Butch rumbled, still not turning around as he rubbed at his chest with the smallest of winces, no doubt still feeling a dull ache from his injuries.

"…Dirty hoe."

Boomer swore he had never seen Butch move so fast in his life. Pain completely forgotten – he flung himself up from his chair and all but roared at Ace. "THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL HER-"

"I'm talking about _this_ hoe!" Ace screeched as he held up a dirty, rusted garden hoe. "Jesus man calm down: You can thank your brothers for getting me to clear out the back gardens – though I have no idea _why_. Its still winter and the ground is frozen, god damn it-"

"If we tell you to do something – no matter how ridiculous it may seem – you're going to do it or else it's a one-way ticket back to the penitentiary for you." Brick spoke up suddenly, and Boomer realized with a jolt that he had been unusually quiet the entire time. "You just be grateful that you're here instead of there. Remember: _we own you._ Don't forget it."

Ace sneered at him from behind Butch. "Yeah, yeah master. Thank you _sooo much."_ He muttered sarcastically before something caught his eye in the firelight. Lowering his shades slightly to reveal his unnatural red-rimmed eyes, he narrowed his eyes and squinted at Butch's chest. "The hell is that?"

Caught off guard, Butch followed Ace's gaze down to his chest only to freeze in a moment of blind panic. His robe had shifted slightly, to reveal part of the massive scaring that was spread tight across his barrel chest, courtesy of the bear he had fought off several weeks prior. He felt his sibling's eyes on him as they realized what Ace was pointing at and Butch knew he had to act before Ace could ask any more questions.

"None of your damn business!" Butch snarled venomously as he scrambled to fix his robe. "Forget you saw that. It's from my own stupidity, nothing else." He shot as an acidic glare that would have made anyone else slink away in terror, but Ace was slowly becoming impervious to them. "I mean it. Don't ask about it. It was a mistake – nothing more." He rumbled as he saw the other man open his mouth.

Ace shot him an unconvincing look as he shut his mouth again, before lacing his hands together – old hoe still in hand. "Sure, fine then. Whatever you say. You might want to get those looked at though – they look pretty gruesome."

"They're fine. They look worse then they actually are." Brick calmly interjected as he finally turned around in his chair to fix Ace with a knowing look. "You best be leaving now. You're dismissed." The pale skinned man opened his mouth once more to make a snide comment to the eldest brother about how he was older than all of them and could come and go wherever he damn well pleased, but the fierce look Brick shot him told him that he was leaving no room for arguments.

"Very well then, _master._ " Ace gave them a mocking bow as he moved towards the doors. "Nighty night, don't let the monsters bite." He cackled as he opened them and stepped out into the dark hallway, only to narrow his eyes at Butch suspiciously again. "Seriously though, get those things looked at… the ladies will find them… unappealing." And with that he shut the doors with a solid _bang_ after him.

All three brothers were silent for a moment after the doors had shut and listened as Ace's footsteps faded down the hallway and away from them, before they dared to speak.

"Do you think he knows?"

"Well, he's stopped asking questions for the most part, but I think he's smart enough to know that somethings wrong. I just don't think he knows what it is."

"Well then its only a matter of time before he finds out about the real secret then." Boomer muttered nervously as he glanced out the window and up into the dark sky, where once again, a half moon was visible through the thin clouds. "I know that he's probably not going to be with us for much longer, but we can't run the risk of him finding out about what we are before Blossom and Bubbles know. That would be disastrous."

"Then I suppose we'll have to keep him away from us for a short while then won't we?" Grumbled Brick as he rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Do you think that's a good idea though? Giving him more freedom to move about in town? The whole reason we've been giving him obscene chores around here is so we can _keep_ an eye on him. Now you want to release him to the public?" Boomer asked carefully, not wanting to start a fight with his oldest brother.

"Part of the reason why we brought him here in the first place is so that he could go into the village and keep an eye on the girls and their family for us, so we could avoid the town all together." Brick pointed out. "I suppose we should use him for that reason as well."

"Yeah, but don't forget who might be waiting for him in town as well." Butch finally spoke up, not looking at either of them.

"… so you really think that the rest of the old gang is here in Townsville?" Boomer asked him softly, remembering the discussion they had the morning after their rampage at the asylum.

"I don't know who else it could be." Butch shook his head. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I think that it's them. I didn't get a good look at them, but who else would follow him around?"

"You think he called them here purposely?" Brick demanded. "Probably. I have no idea when he would have done it, but if he's got the old gang back together, then he's planning something, and I don't like it." Butch growled lowly. "That being said, if its really them, I don't want him going into town and associating with them under our noses. Whatever they're trying to plan it won't be good for anyone."

"Butch has a point when he says it like that Brick." Boomer agreed, looking toward their leader. "If he thinks it's the rest of the GangGreen Gang, then I'll believe him. He ran with them for a while after all, he knows them better than we do. Besides, it seems like Ace is already pretty suspicious of us as it is – we don't need the rest of his crew getting involved if it's really them."

"Let him go."

"What?" Boomer and Butch asked simultaneously in disbelief.

"If he's really called the rest of his crew here, then let him go to them." Brick clarified as he laced his fingers together underneath his chin. "I want to know where they're hiding and why it is that they're here. We'll give him a little leash and let him think that he has more freedom then he really does, but in reality – we'll be watching his every move. If they're actually in town, or plotting anything – we'll know, and we'll put a stop to it _real_ quick." He grinned savagely, allowing the firelight to cast dark shadows around his face, and jerked a thumb as the window, were the moon was still visible.

"Besides. Who says that we have to wait until the next full moon to take care of them anyways?"

* * *

 **Townsville Center, Inn**

Snake suppressed a massive shudder as the freezing wind washed over him mercilessly. Shuddering pitifully, he made his way from the inn entrance and into the small alleyway just beside it, as he rubbed his hands together in an effort to regain some of the warmth in his hands.

As cold as it was outside – he couldn't stand being inside with the rest of the gang any longer. The small inn rooms they had rented out were suffocating and weren't meant to host that many people for more than a day or two. He had needed air, and some peace and quiet – so he had decided to come outside and brave the chilly end of March winds, as it was the only place for to go,

"Hey, Snake Eyes, over here."

The lanky man almost jumped in fright as the raspy Italian/New Yorker accent cut through the air like a whip. Whirling around so that he was facing the darkness of the alleyway, he could just make out a tall, thin, figure behind him, almost unseen from the shadows. The sight would have made anyone else feel wiry, but Snake had been with the unseen man long enough to know exactly who he was.

"There you are Ace. I had a feeling you might try to visssit tonight. Where have you been? We were ssstarting to get worried. You've been very quiet lately." The man lisped as he shuffled over to the shadowed man.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, well I'm here now aren't I? you have no idea how hard it is to slip out without being caught." Ace bit back snidely as he pushed back the hood on his cloak to fix his glasses that had become slightly crooked from the ride over. "I swear those people work me harder than the wardens ever did. Not to mention that they keep an annoyingly close watch on me ever since the whole incident with those girls that they're so keen about." He shook his head irritably and ran a hand through his mop of greasy black hair.

"The oldest one, Brick? I don't think he sleeps half the time. It's damn near impossible to get out if he's having a particularly restless night. I can hear him pacing through the hallways in the dead of night like some sort of animal. He does that a lot. Fucker makes _me_ anxious."

"Have you dug up anything else on them?" Snake asked curiously.

Ace shrugged as he searched around in his coat pockets for a packet of smokes, scowling as he turned up empty. "I might have something. I don't really have much to go on – and it's just sorta me thinking out loud – but there's something about them that's been bugging me lately… the boys, I mean."

Snake remained silent as he waited for him to elaborate. Ace had a look on his face that he knew all too well. It wasn't wise to interrupt him until he figured out what it was that he wanted to say. Years of trial and error had taught him that. Finally, he spoke.

"I think there's something going on with that family that they're trying to cover up."

Snake paused, looking uncertain. "What do you mean Ace? Do you think it has something to do with whatever isss running around thisss town at night? I tried to find out more about it from the localsss here this week while we were waiting for you to get in contact with usss. I can't get a ssstraight answer out of anyone, but whatever it isss hasss them terrified."

Ace shook his head. "No, something else is up. But I think that it might be related to that. Butch finally came out of his room for the first time in weeks." Snake squinted at his leader, not seeing the point. "You've lossst me bossss. What's so sssusssspicious about that?" Ace snorted. "Because it's not the first time that he's done this. When I asked about him, I was told he had a wicked fever that was keeping him bead-ridden, but I think it's a cover up."

Snaked cocked an eyebrow at him, prompting him to go on. "I finally got a good look at him. He's got wicked scars all on his chest. They look like he just got them recently, and I somehow doubt they were there before he got _sick."_ He quoted in the air. "They've all been acting very suspicious as of late, and they've been real quiet around me. Something's up. I don't know what. But something isn't right."

"Ssso, let me get thisss ssstright. You're getting paranoid because he hasss sssome new ssscaring on his chessst?" Snake lisped, not bothering to try and hide the skeptical look on his face.

"If you saw them Snake, you'd agree with me." Ace muttered lowly. "Those were no ordinary looking scars. He couldn't have done them to himself. Something big caused them, and I don't think it was a human either." He snapped his fingers suddenly. "Not to mention the brute only got sick right after the full moon."

"What are you implying Ace? That he sssomehow had a run in with whatever isss ssscaring the localsss?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking." Ace grinned savagely. "That, or I think they know a little more about the thing in the woods then they're letting on. Suppose beasty and them are friends and they sick the thing on the town every full moon?"

"You would need sssome sssort of proof." Ace lisped thoughtfully, tapping his chin with a thin finger. "They're terrible people – Butch essspecially – but that's a pretty wild accusssation, even for them. You'd need sssome sssort of proof, that linksss them to whatever the thing isss before pointing fingers at them. After all-" his eyes narrowed at his leader. "they could sssend you back to the penitentiary and we would have come all the way out here for nothing."

"But just think if I'm right Snake?" Ace giggled gleefully as he rubbed his hands together, cracking manically. "What if I'm right and I can somehow get proof that they're linked to all the attacks? After all, for people who claim to be the panicle of heath, they do get sick a lot…" he ginned at the illusion of him being the one to bring the Jojo family to their knees. Snake was right: it was a wild accession, but the more he thought about it, the more certain things began to stick out in his mind that were odd… such as the boys repeatedly getting sick at least once a month since he had gotten there, and then spending the next week hiding from him…

He had known something had been off since the moment he had arrived at that cursed mansion but had never been able to say what it was. Now, talking about it out in the open with his old accomplice, things were staring to make sense to him that hadn't before.

"I'm sure that if I searched hard enough I could come up with something." Ace continued on excitedly. "I'm around them so often that I overhear things that they don't necessarily want anyone else knowing. Just think: if I could get enough dirt on them, it would _ruin them_ – it would hurt them more then what we planned to do to them- on that note." The black-haired man quickly changed the subject. "Have you seen _them_ yet?"

"What? Thossse three girlsss you mentioned that the boysss had their eyesss on? Not in perssson – they don't come into town much – but enough people have dissscribed them to me."

"Yeah well lemme tell you, those three are something else." Ace muttered appreciatively as he thought back to the last time he had seen the three sisters together. "Real work of art they are. I'm telling you Snake, I have a gut feeling that those girls are the key if we _really_ want to do some damage to the Jojo's. From what I can tell, they're the only people that they truly care about, so-" he grinned and licked his lips. "Did you find any buyers for them?"

"Girlsss like that will alwaysss fetch a high price on the black market regardless." Snake hissed, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll have no problemsss finding someone for them, but the quessstion remainsss: how do you expect to get to them?"

"I'll know when the opportunity presents itself." Ace chuckled darkly. "An opportunity always does. I just need a decently large commotion, and with everyone distracted, we'll snatch them up under everyone's noses. The boys won't even know what hit them."

"and how exactly do you plan to ssstart sssaid commotion?" Snake asked. Ace shrugged and grinned.

"From the way I see it. The town is nearing its breaking point. What with all the paranoia and death that's happened recently? Someone will snap soon and cause a commotion, then it'll start some sort of a riot from therer. I've seen it happen before many times and I know the signs. If I can just orchestrate it between the townsfolk and the Jojo's that would be perfect. I already happen to know that the town isn't fond of them to begin with, so that shouldn't be too hard. I just have to wait for the right moment. It's more or less just a matter of _when._ "

"Oh Ace… I wouldn't want to be your enemy." Snake muttered but couldn't stop a sick grin the slid up his face as he watched the reemergence of his leader's devious old attitude appear.

"No one does. It's me after all. I ruin people's lives for kicks if they cross me, and Butch… well… Butch definitely did." A dark look entered his odd pink eyes. "When I said that he and his entire family was going to pay for what he did to Grubber and Billy… I meant that shit."

He cast a look up at the dark sky above him and slid on his tinted glasses again. "You'd best go get some shut eye Snake. I've got to head back now before one of those brat's decide do a night check. Rest up and wait for my signal. The time to act is coming."

Snake nodded and began to move back inside as Ace drew up his cloak again. "Snake." The thin man stopped in his tracks and peered back at his old leader, but the greasy haired man didn't turn back to face him.

"Be ready."

And with that, he took off into the shadows of the night.

* * *

 **?**

The basement air was stagnant and damp as it had been for hundreds of years since the house above it had been built.

Nothing stirred within its murky depths – in fact, not a sound could be heard from the darkness surrounding it. It was eerily silent – stiff even – and there was a certain air of anticipation about the dreary space – almost as if the large room itself was waiting for something to happen.

If one listened closely enough, they would be able to hear a low hum echoing off the cold stone walls in a strange rhythm, almost as if the space was alive… almost as if it had a heartbeat.

The basement had been used as many things over the years. For the first few generations of the Jojo family, it had been used as storage. In later years when the house fell to Mojo, it had been used as a lab, where many wonderful and terrifying experiments had been conducted within its walls.

More recently however – it had been used as a cell that had housed three small boys, who were not so small, and not so innocent anymore. And even more recently than that – it had become the site for the most forbidden and unholy incantations.

The damp, stone walls that lined the basement had seen many things. Terrible, but great things.

Now the walls were lined with strange, ancient symbols that were several decades old and had been originally been drawn in blood. They covered most of the walls and floor, each hand drawn and with razor precision. They were no longer the deep crimson colour they once had been when they had first been painted on, and had long since dried into a brown colour that had been slowly flaking off for many years – but now a new, strange power seemed to flow through them once more, and the faint sounds of the pulsating heartbeat that echoed though the basement grew slightly stronger.

A surge of red washed over the markings with a low hum, turning them from a dull brown to a deep glowing red once more – the vibrating heartbeat growing even more prominent, as a slight dusting of red fog seemed to appear out of thin air.

Then came the whispers.

Many were too quiet to understand what it was they were saying, but some were growing loud enough to pick out words if one listened hard enough.

The glowing symbols and the red fog seemed to fill the large space, obscuring it from view just as the whispers became clear and loud enough to be understood.

 _ **He is coming…**_

 _ **He is coming…**_

Miles away on the other side of town, Blossom's eyes snapped open.

* * *

 **Authors note:** _When I said that last chapter marked the beginning to the end, I meant it._

 _So many new developments are coming to light now, and its only a matter of time before Blossom and Bubbles are filled in on the boy's dirty little secret, and even less time before all three of them find out the full story…_

 _Pieces of the boy's backstory are coming to light now – they are truly the most complicated characters in this story, and there is much more to them then meets the eye, as we shall soon find out…_

 _Thank you so much for waiting for this chapter to come out – it took much longer then I would have liked, but recently my life got much busier as of late – I promise that I work on this story as much as I can when I have free time and will continue to do so. In the meantime, thank you for waiting._

 _Also, one last thing I need to address before I forget: (because it's getting to the point that I'm getting pretty fed up every time I see one.)_

 _ **Review: "Did updating this thing cross your mind yet?"**_

 _ **ME:**_ I don't know. Has it crossed your mind that I'm a full-time college student in her second/third year of school, who has essays, exams and placement to worry about? Not to mention working a job on the side, with bills that need to be paid, and who actually has a social life outside of this?

 _I'm getting a lot more of these types of "reviews" as of late, and I'm just going to throw this out there now, just so we're clear:_ **Can you please not?**

 _I understand that so many of you are wanting to see what happens next in the story, and trust me I am more than flattered by your enthusiasm, but the greatest gift you can give to me is your patience. Believe it or not, but some of these chapters – especially the newer ones, with the lengths that they are – can take close to a month and a half to write – sometimes more if I'm not satisfied with it, and as many of you already know; I will never publish something if I'm not happy with it first. (That and of course school kept me so busy that I literally wasn't on ANY online platforms for close to two months, so in case any of you were wondering why I wasn't responding to you ((especially on Tumblr)) that's why.)_

 _Please keep in mind that I do this for fun, nothing more, nothing less. I don't get paid to work on it, and it's simply just a fun hobby that I indulge in when I have the time – and as much as I want to work on it – sometimes, my schedule just doesn't allot me enough time. Thank you._

 _Anyways, with that out of the way, I can assure all of you that I WILL finish this story, even if I pull an SBJ and it takes me years; it will be completed. That much I can promise all of you!_

 _(That, and Lycan only has 19 chapters, so we might as well drag it out for as long as possible – we're already more then halfway done if you can believe it!)_

 _Again, thank you so much for sticking with this story and I will see you in the next chapter:_ **Long Shadows**

 _Much love, Miss RoseGold xoxox_


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